PRETOX

January detoxes are a commonplace. The clever hedonist pretoxes with a healthy holiday in late November or early December. The idea is that, after a cleansing break, you go into the party season of sound, cheery mind and blooming body, with your party self on full beam. For ideas, contact Lotus Journeys (020 8965 5727, www.lotusjourneys.com), which offers a wide range of tried-and-tested wholesome holidays, from three-night luxury yoga and detox breaks in Cornwall (£560pp) to a Himalayan ayurvedic spa (from £225 per night) or yoga and riding on polo ranches in Argentina (from just £480pp for a week).

For the town-bound, Paul Stephen Lubicz, aka the Wellbeing Manager, has pretox programmes to prepare clients for periods of intense stress, such as the Christmas and New Year blowout. Lubicz combines diet, exercise, detox supplements and treatments such as colonics and acupuncture to “send my clients into December in a better state of mind, more attuned to what their body needs and less likely to go over the top”. Prices start at £500: call 0800 980 1129 or visit www.thewellbeingmanager.com.

DIET

Before you go out, eat a balanced meal that’s high in omega oils and choline, both of which will help your liver to cope better. A model meal would be an egg and avocado sandwich on multigrain bread, with a flaxseed-oil dressing. At the party, eat protein-only canapés — you’ll get all the carbs you need from booze. Superhealthy hedonists carry raw nuts (not salty ones, as these will make you thirsty, leading to increased alcohol consumption) and nibble them throughout the night.

Drink diluted fresh orange juice if you wake up with a raging thirst in the night (the sugars will stabilise your own blood-sugar level, thus halting the crashing energy ups and downs that are so destructive to your body, even when asleep).

For the morning (or afternoon) after, try smoothies made with blue-green algae (it helps to detoxify the liver, as toxins are neutralised by antioxidants) and a low-fat grill-up, because your liver will be stressed by fat. I would wrestle crocodiles to defend this nutritional strategy; it’s worked for me for years. In fact, I might even blame my latent alcoholism on its phenomenal healing powers.

ENERGY

Preservation is key. Practised hedonists have a good idea of what their energy requirement for a sustained period of partying is, and will modify their work commitments accordingly. Nobody can party hard, work hard and look good: start working to rule now.

PILLS

Party animals never get enough nutrients, so to maximise health, take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement at breakfast, as well as Siberian ginseng, to combat adrenal stress, and pomegranate extract, which Shabir Daya, pharmacist at Victoria Health (020 8951 4144, www.victoriahealth.com), describes as the best support for the liver in testing times.

THRILLS

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