If you are a millennial like me, you might have noticed a shift in how your body handles a night out. The days of bouncing back after a few hours of sleep seem to be long gone. Instead, we are often left wondering why a couple of drinks now result in a two-day recovery process.
It turns out this is not just in our heads. A pharmacist has confirmed what many of us feared: recovering from alcohol consumption actually gets physically harder as we age. There are specific biological reasons why our bodies struggle more now than they did ten years ago.
The primary culprit is a change in metabolism. In our twenties, our bodies are generally more efficient at processing toxins. As we enter our thirties, the metabolic system slows down, meaning alcohol stays in the bloodstream longer.
This process involves specific enzymes produced by the liver. When we drink, the liver releases an enzyme to break alcohol down into a compound called acetaldehyde. This compound is toxic and responsible for many of the nasty symptoms we associate with feeling hungover.
A second enzyme is supposed to break that toxic compound down into harmless acetate. However, as we age, the liver produces less of these enzymes. This leads to a buildup of acetaldehyde in the system, causing headaches and nausea to be more intense and last longer.
Changes in body composition also play a significant role. As people get older, they tend to lose muscle mass and gain a higher percentage of body fat. Muscle tissue holds water, while fat tissue does not.
Because we have less body water to dilute the alcohol, it remains more concentrated in our systems. This dehydration contributes heavily to the pounding headaches and dizziness that follow a night of drinking. Even if you drink the same amount as you used to, your blood alcohol concentration will likely be higher now.
Sleep quality is another factor that deteriorates with age. While alcohol might help you fall asleep faster, it severely disrupts the REM cycle, which is the deep, restorative phase of sleep. Since older adults already experience naturally fragmented sleep, alcohol makes the exhaustion feel much worse the next day.
There is also the issue of inflammation. Baseline inflammation levels in the body tend to rise as we get older. Alcohol triggers further inflammation, creating a compounding effect that leaves us feeling achy and stiff.
Finally, we cannot ignore the lifestyle changes that define this decade of life. In my twenties, I could often spend the entire next day in bed recovering. Now, responsibilities like work, children, or errands force us to function before we are fully rested.
This lack of downtime prevents the body from directing energy toward recovery. We simply do not have the luxury of checking out for twenty-four hours anymore. The combination of biological changes and increased stress means the “two-day hangover” is a very real phenomenon.
So, if you feel like you can’t party like you used to, give yourself a break. Your body has changed, and it is trying to tell you to take it easy. Listening to those signals might be the only way to survive the weekend.
