The Drunkest Day of the Year: How to Avoid the Thanksgiving Eve Hangover

By Jenny Smith Mattfeldt

Published November 26, 2025

It’s the one night of the year you can spot your high school teacher, your baby cousin, and your aunt’s ex-husband all drinking in the same place — truly the most chaotic, wonderful time of the year. And listen we aren’t 22 anymore. We're not putting up with puffy eyes tomorrow, no “why does it feel like the stuffing won’t stay down.” We’ve got the science-backed and old-Italian-approved ways to avoid a hangover and wake up feeling like an actual human being.

Our old-school Italian hack incoming. Ask any older Italian man and he’ll swear olive oil “coats the lining of your stomach.” Does it? I can’t promise you that — but I can tell you that those healthy fats help stabilize your blood sugar, which means way less of a crash later. We’re drinking for longevity here.

Try this instead of raw-dogging a spoonful:

• 1 tbsp of olive oil with

• a pinch of flaky salt

• a tiny squeeze of lemon

  
  

Sip it like a little Italian aperitivo moment. Suddenly it’s classy, not cursed.

No, not the hangover prevention kind — the fun kind. I swear by coconut water cocktails this is my Evr drinking hack that will change your holiday nights forever. Here’s the move: mix your drinks at the start of the night with coconut water. Suddenly your margarita, gin fizz, or vodka soda isn’t just cute, it’s hydrating you while you dehydrate.

Alcohol burns through your B vitamins faster than you think. Taking a B-complex earlier in the day (not drunk, not on an empty stomach) helps your body process alcohol more efficiently. Your liver relies on B1 (thiamine) and B6 to break down booze, and if you’re low, toxic byproducts like acetaldehyde linger longer, leaving you feeling worse.

B12 and folate support your nervous system, helping prevent:

• shakiness

• anxiety

• brain fog

• that sluggish, scattered feeling the morning after.

Keeping your B vitamins topped up is a simple way to make the next day far more manageable.

Vodka and tequila are your best bets. Congeners are the messy, toxic byproducts formed during fermentation and aging, are what make hangovers feel like death.

• Clear spirits (vodka, tequila blanco, gin) = very low congeners

• Dark spirits (whiskey, bourbon, rum, red wine) = high congeners

• High congeners = worse headaches, nausea, anxiety, and overall chaos.

Alcohol + sugar is another hangover double punch:

• spikes blood sugar

• crashes blood sugar

• increases dehydration

• adds inflammation

Magnesium Glycinate is a girls best friend. Alcohol knocks you out but wrecks deep, restorative sleep. Magnesium glycinate supports your nervous system and natural GABA production, helping you actually rest and calm down.

Better sleep = fewer headaches, less anxiety, and a smoother next day.

• calmer nerves

• less tossing and turning

• fewer headaches

• more functional morning

A cold shower literally shocks your nervous system back online (in the best, hottest, wellness-girl way.) Cold exposure can boost dopamine by up to 250%, keeping it elevated for hours. Suddenly, you go from “I am a shell of a human” to “I could run a startup” in under a minute.

Huberman recommends cold exposure once you’re sober, since it spikes adrenaline and dopamine, helping you feel alert and less hungover.

Follow it with a hot/cold contrast shower for extra circulation, and top it off with ordering something greasy — it’s all about balance. Happy Thanksgiving ya party animal.

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