Before you drink: a real meal with protein, some fat and complex carbohydrates, ideally an hour or two ahead. It slows how fast alcohol is absorbed, which is the single most useful thing food does here.
The morning after: eggs, toast, fruit, something with salt in it, and water alongside. Not a fry-up, and not nothing. (The morning-after side has its own article — this one is about the meal that comes first.)
The rest of this is why, plus the one piece of advice everybody repeats that does not survive scrutiny.
Why eating first works
Alcohol is absorbed through the stomach and small intestine. On an empty stomach it moves through quickly and blood alcohol climbs fast; with food in the way, the same drinks arrive more gradually and peak lower.
That is the entire mechanism, and it is worth understanding because it tells you what food can and cannot do. It changes the shape of the curve. It does not change the total amount of alcohol you drank, and it is not a licence to drink more.
What to eat before
Protein. Slows gastric emptying and keeps you fuller for longer, which matters when the alternative is drinking on an empty stomach at seven and eating chips at midnight.
Fat. The slowest thing to digest, so it holds everything else in the stomach longer. Olive oil, avocado, nuts, cheese, oily fish.
Complex carbohydrates. Rice, potatoes, bread, pasta. Steadier blood sugar going in, and a buffer against the dip later.
Something salty. Not essential, but you are about to lose sodium.
The practical version is unglamorous: a normal dinner. Chicken and rice. Pasta. A burger. Eggs on toast if it is early. Anything you would eat on a Tuesday.
Timing: an hour or two before the first drink is ideal. Eating during still helps.
The greasy-food myth
Here is the one to let go of.
The belief is that fatty food "lines your stomach" and forms a barrier against alcohol. It does not. Nothing you eat coats the stomach in a way that blocks absorption. Fat slows digestion, which is genuinely useful — but that is a different mechanism from the one people describe, and it does not protect you.
Worse, a heavy fried meal before a long night tends to produce its own problems: alcohol irritates the stomach lining, and a stomach already dealing with a plate of fried food handles that badly. The classic pre-drinks kebab is doing less than you think and can make the night worse.
Also worth skipping beforehand: anything very sugary, which amplifies the blood-sugar swing you are already going to get, and very spicy food — not because of any coating effect, but because alcohol irritates the stomach lining and spice compounds the irritation.
And afterwards, briefly
The morning-after meal is a different question with a different answer, and it gets its own article — including an uncomfortable finding about how little of the standard advice has ever been put through a trial.
The short version if you are not clicking through: something with salt in it, something easy on the stomach, fruit, and water alongside. The fry-up is doing less than you think.
Two perennials belong to other articles: hair of the dog defers the problem rather than solving it, and the biochemistry usually cited for it has been tested and failed; pickle juice gets its own examination.
What food cannot do
Food works at the margins. It cannot reach the two variables that dominate the outcome — how much sleep you actually got, and how long your liver still has to go.
The second half of your night gets degraded from about two drinks upward, and the leading account of why mornings feel bad points at an inflammatory response, not at fluid. No breakfast reaches either. (Sleep, in detail.)
Frequently asked questions
What is the best food to eat before drinking? A balanced meal with protein, fat and complex carbohydrates, an hour or two beforehand. Specific foods matter far less than eating a proper meal at all.
Does eating before drinking prevent a hangover? No. It slows absorption so blood alcohol peaks lower, which is worth having on its own terms — though how much that changes the next morning is less well established than the advice implies. The amount you drink still dominates.
What is the best hangover food? Eggs, toast, fruit, and something salty, with water alongside. Easy to digest beats impressive.
Should I eat if I feel too nauseous? Start small — dry toast, a banana, some broth — rather than forcing a large meal, and sip fluid rather than gulping it. If you cannot keep fluids down at all, are repeatedly vomiting, or feel confused or disoriented, that is worth a call to a healthcare professional rather than a breakfast.
Do bananas help? They are a decent source of potassium and simple carbohydrate, both of which you are short on, so they are a sensible choice. They are not a cure and nothing else in the fruit bowl is either.
Does greasy food help a hangover the next day? It helps because it is food, not because it is greasy — and on an irritated stomach it can backfire. Something plainer usually serves you better.
Where Snake Oil fits
Honestly, food covers most of this. A salty breakfast with fruit and a glass of water is doing the same job a recovery drink does, and if that is what you have, you are fine.
Where a drink mix earns its place is convenience and consistency: a measured dose in a form you will actually get through at 8am, when cooking is not happening. A stick in 16 ounces of water carries 370mg sodium, 5g carbohydrate, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and the B lineup with vitamins C and E.† It belongs alongside a meal, not instead of one.
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Related reading: Does alcohol dehydrate you? · Electrolyte drink for a hangover: what to look for