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When you last exercised

No, working out doesn’t change how you metabolize booze—but it does release endorphins, which can decrease appetite, possibly stopping you from eating before you drink. "With no food to absorb it, more alcohol rushes into your system," says Harold Urschel, MD, author of Healing the Addicted Brain and chief medical strategist at Enterhealth Ranch substance-abuse center in Dallas.

Next: What you’re drinking