1. Don't drink on an empty stomach

The biggest factor in how quickly we get our buzz has to do with the stomach. Eating before, during, or after your favorite drink will slow down how quickly alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Alcohol has to pass through our stomach first and then our intestines before it can give us a buzz. Digesting food slows down this process.

2. Eat greasy foods

Greasy foods can slow down your buzz, but so can lots of other foods. Meals high in fats, carbs, and proteins are all equally effective at it. The point here is to fill your stomach with calories. That’s an excuse to indulge in some happy hour apps if we’ve ever heard one.

3. Increasing NAD levels can help

While increasing NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) isn’t a common drinking tip, it is an established biological fact that our livers depend on NAD to breakdown alcohol.

But our bodies also rely on NAD to perform a host of other actions as well. When you’re using a lot of NAD to detoxify alcohol, it becomes less available for processing other molecules (like fat). Niagen® is proven to increase NAD levels by up to 60%.*

4. Pace yourself

Our bodies can’t store alcohol. The liver has to break down alcohol as we drink, and it can only do this at an average rate of seven grams per hour. Standard drinks in the United States are around 14 grams.

While the general advice of “one drink per hour” is a good guideline, it’s more like one drink every two hours to really let your liver do its job. Probably not what most of us wanted to hear. But hey, it’s a good reason to savor that vintage Cabernet rather than down it.

5. Stay off your phone

Most of us know we lose our good judgment when we drink, and the science backs that up. So, next time you’re tempted to text your ex while you’re out, just remember it’s not a matter of self-control. Your brain is not working the way it’s supposed to right now.

6. Drink a ton of water

We may not know the true cause of hangovers yet on a cellular level, but we do know that factors like dehydration can make hangover symptoms worse.

7. Sip mixed drinks slowly

Carbonated drinks are emptied out of the stomach faster, and therefore absorbed into the bloodstream faster. Mixers with artificial sweeteners (rather than normal sugar), also increase alcohol absorption. The buzz you get from those kinds of mixed drinks really will sneak up on you.