12 foods to eat after a night out to help prevent a hangover

• When the drunk munchies hit, there are plenty of options that will sound appealing but will end up making you feel worse.
• If you're going to raid the kitchen or hit the local diner, pick something that will satisfy you now and help minimize hangover symptoms later.
• These are the best late night snacks to help you absorb those cocktails and not feel too horrible tomorrow morning.

We've all been there — you're out with your friends and one drink becomes a handful of drinks, and suddenly it's the middle of the night and you're starving.

In fact, even if you had a filling dinner beforehand and stayed adequately hydrated by matching each alcoholic beverage with water, a 2004 study showed that alcohol has a stimulating effect on appetite, leading us to crave high-fat, salty foods, even into the following day.

So if you find yourself at midnight wanting to inhale a cheese pizza or a mountain of French fries, it's not a surprise why this happens.

But not all drunk foods are made equally, and though it might seem like a good idea to fill your stomach with anything you can get your hands on, some food is better to eat if you want to feel good the next day.

INSIDER spoke with a registered dietitian and an executive chef and they explained their top drunk food options, revealing that you'll want to keep a solid balance of carbs and protein, avoiding anything too salty, high-fat, or sugary — so those nachos aren't the best choice, and neither is that pint of ice cream calling to you in the freezer.

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Whole-wheat crackers or veggie slices with hummus and/or guacamole can help you stay full.

When you're three drinks in, you probably don't want to start whipping up anything too complicated, but plenty of snacks you enjoy during the day are actually great for noshing while tipsy.

"Alcohol interferes with the storage of glycogen, a quick energy source that's stored in muscles and the liver," Isabel Maples, MEd, RDN, a Virginia-based registered dietitian nutritionist and volunteer spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics told INSIDER. She added that "carbohydrates like crackers help the body maintain normal blood sugar. Hummus and guacamole pair deliciously with crackers and provide healthy fats that work just as well before drinking, too, to slow down the rate alcohol is absorbed."

If you have veggie slices or sticks around, they're equally full of fiber and water, which will hydrate and give you back some of the nutrients depleted by your alcoholic drinks, and make for a satisfying midnight-snack option.

Whole-wheat toast or pita bread can help absorb some of the alcohol.

Similarly, Maples recommended a little bit of whole-wheat toast or pita bread to sop up that alcohol — just be mindful of your toppings. While hummus or avocado are good choices, nut butter, margarine, or regular butter are high in fat and thus difficult to digest. She added, "Dry toast works well after drinking, to replenish energy stores without overwhelming a queasy stomach."

Plain rice with grilled chicken is a smart choice if you've got leftovers.

Depending on how much you've had to drink, you'll probably want to avoid turning on the stove and attempting a "Top Chef"-inspired meal. But if you are looking for something substantial to fill your belly and only leftovers on hand, grilled chicken and rice is a solid choice.

Maples called it "a filling, no-frills way to restore glycogen and maintain blood sugar without a greasy choice. Plus, the protein in chicken help provide the amino acids to start breaking down alcohol," which will help you feel better and get a solid night's rest ASAP.