A night spent drinking after the age of 30 can come with a hefty price.
Previously pesky hangovers solved with Gatorade and a bagel devolve in brutal, day-long shame rituals.
You may feel nauseous, dizzy, shaky, exhausted, weak — or even sad.
The reason for worsened symptoms are tied to several changes in the body that come with growing older, according to experts.
“As we age, our bodies handle alcohol differently due to natural changes in our water volume, liver function and overall sensitivity,” Dr. Krista LaBruzzo, an addiction medicine specialist with Banner – University Medicine, explained. “These factors can cause hangovers to feel worse as you age.”
Losing water
Water is an essential part of human bodies.
It helps regulate body temperature, protects organs and tissues, helps to make nutrients more accessible and carry oxygen to cells and flushes out waste, according to the Mayo Clinic.
As infants, humans are nearly 80 percent water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
But, by the time they reach one year old, that percentage drops by 15 percent.
In adulthood, men – who have more muscle content than women – are about 60 percent water. Fat makes up more of the body in women, who are about 55 percent water.
After the age of 30, people tend to lose muscle, reducing the amount of water in the body.
This shift occurs as it becomes harder for the body to hold onto water, according to UCLA Health, and decreased function in our kidneys makes us feel less thirsty.
About three-quarters of Americans are not drinking enough water, the National Council on Aging says, with symptoms often attributed to other medications and conditions.
Alcohol can make dehydration more severe because it is a diuretic, promoting the production of urine.
“This combination of natural water loss and alcohol’s dehydrating effects can lead to hangovers, headaches and even confusion,” LaBruzzo said.
Slowing metabolism
Our ability to break down alcohol is also affected when we age as our metabolism starts to drop by age 25.
Alcohol is broken down into chemicals by enzymes in the liver that circulate throughout the body.
But those enzymes become less efficient, causing people to feel the effects of alcohol faster.
“Your liver just isn’t as resilient as you get older,” geriatrician Dr. Kenneth Koncilja told the Cleveland Clinic. “So, it might not process alcohol as efficiently it does it does when you’re younger.”
Older adults are also more likely to have liver disease that impair this ability, such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.
And slowing blood circulation through the liver impedes the metabolism, causing a build up of toxic metabolites from alcohol that can lead to cancer.
Drinking alcohol comes with an increased risk of mouth, throat, voice box, esophagal, colorectal, liver and breast cancer.
Consumption was tied to nearly 25,000 of the 600,000 cancer deaths in 2019, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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