With New Year’s Eve only a couple of days away and most people making it a long weekend, the chances of 2008 starting off with a hangover have increased exponentially…

Here are some tips on how to reduce your chances of getting a hangover, or to ease the symptoms after you get one:

1. Limit how much you drink. Avoid shots and try to limit yourself to three to five alcoholic drinks, fewer if you’re a woman. That’s because even if they weigh the same, a woman will have a higher blood alcohol level than a man from the same amount of drinking because of differences in the amount of water in their bodies and levels of a key enzyme that breaks down alcohol.

2. Alternate alcoholic drinks with nonalcoholic, caffeine-free ones. Water or seltzer, perhaps livened up with fruit wedges, will keep you hydrated without adding lots of calories.

3. Avoid darker-colored alcohols such as brandy, rum and red wine, which contain compounds that can contribute to a hangover.

4. Eat before you go to a party, and choose the right foods: lean proteins such as poultry or fish cooked in healthy oils and complex, or slow-release, carbohydrates such as vegetables, brown rice, whole wheat pasta or sweet potatoes. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat and highly processed (usually high-sodium) foods such as cold cuts.

5. Drink water before going to bed. A small amount of aspirin or other anti-inflammatory medicine can help limit a headache the next day.

THE MORNING AFTER

6. Drink water first thing after you awake, or, even better, drink tomato or other vegetable juice. The juice will replenish electrolytes such as sodium and potassium that help regulate metabolism, plus key vitamins depleted by alcohol such as vitamin C and the B vitamins.

7. If you’re going for “the hair of the dog” _ another dose of alcohol, which does help some people _ try a Bloody Mary complete with the celery stick, which will replenish important electrolytes and vitamins.

8. Eat a light breakfast with some lean protein and complex carbohydrates, such as a vegetable omelette, whole wheat toast and fresh fruit, which will nourish you without causing a blood sugar spike _ and then a crash.

9. If you are a regular coffee or tea drinker, it’s good to have your morning caffeine. It can help thwart a headache and prevent the caffeine-withdrawal headache that can occur even when you haven’t been drinking.

10. Still feeling miserable? Try going back to sleep if you can, because the passage of time ultimately is the best cure for a hangover.