here are as many tips for avoiding Thanksgiving overindulgence as there are recipes for stuffing. Drink two glasses of water before sitting down. Resist the temptation of seconds, and limit yourself to one plate. Fill up on turkey, not potatoes. Choose only the most trimming of trimmings.

You've heard all of these, right?

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Related: • BLOG: How do keep from blowing it over the holidays? • Holidays don't have to be fattening ... really • Weekly exercise tip • Diet & fitness news and tips • Weight loss success stories • More health news BEAT THE POST-FEAST SLUGGISHNESS 1. Take the dog out. 2. Have a chat. 3. Kick piles of leaves. 4. Check out neighbors' houses. 5. Hold hands. 6. Gather pine cones and evergreen boughs for holiday decorations. [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The fact is you will pile your food into a precarious heap, glug on the gravy, accept a third piece of pie and sit around wallowing in your own gastric juices like a hippo in a fetid riverbed once the meal is over. You will feel gross — beyond gross — and wonder how you've done this to yourself again.

The question is not how to avoid this sad state of affairs but what to do once you get there. Are there any remedies for overeating that don't involve antacids, purgatives or general anesthesia?

Perhaps we should look to Europe for the best way to handle the ill effects of this most American of holidays. People there know exactly what to do when you're about to burst from overeating.

Drink.

Brandies, liqueurs, bitters and sundry bottles of firewater routinely show up at the end of epic European meals in the guise of digestive aids.

Italy offers the greatest lineup of digestivi, from sweetened, syrupy limoncello to clear, fiery grappa. Many Italians swear by the effects of a good shot of amaro, a dark cordial infused with bitter herbs and essences that in themselves are reputed to aid digestion.

The French have an equally varied lineup of digestifs. Brandies — such as cognac and Armagnac — are the classic after-dinner drinks. Fancier people may opt for an eau de vie distilled from raspberries or pears, while the more down-to-earth types go for the clear distillate called marc. In Normandy, there is a charming overeating ritual called the "trou normand" (it means "Norman hole") in which diners take a shot of Calvados apple brandy in the middle of a huge meal so that they'll be able to keep going to the bitter, porked-out end.

In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, a meal ends with a tiny glass of Becherovka — a cordial that tastes like grappa infused with spice cake and cough drops but in a good way.

Hungarians are partial to a dark, ferociously bitter concoction called Zwack Unicum that comes in a spherical bottle with a red cross on it. The flavor is so admonishing you'll regret that third helping of goulash.

Germans produce a famous beverage originally intended as a digestive aid. Know what it is? If you said "Jägermeister," you get another piece of pumpkin pie.

While dinner party hosts and restaurateurs attest to the curative powers of a shot of hard stuff after a big meal, doctors are a bit more divided. Most readily point out that excessive alcohol consumption is a well-known cause of heartburn. Drinking relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach and increases the possibility of acid reflux.

But Dr. Vince Yang, director of digestive diseases at Emory University, says there may be some science to the power of digestifs.

"The reason people feel full is that their stomach doesn't empty," says Yang. "I would presume that alcohol will relax the muscle that empties the stomach."

Then, Yang says, you may want to eat a little more.

So this Thanksgiving, put away the milk of magnesia and dust off that bottle of Jägermeister. It may be just what the doctor ordered.