Hangovers do not get worse, they get better with age. Many studies have shown this. A Danish study of over 51,000 participants demonstrated that hangovers were worse in the young. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24033827/
Another study by Dr. Huntley and his group from Brown University analyzed data from 274 participants and found that younger drinkers had worse hangovers than older drinkers and this difference became stronger as people get older. There was no difference between the severity of hangovers for men vs. women. The hangovers were worse with higher amounts of alcohol consumed.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4579002/
34
I used to be able to drink a lot but in my 60s I suddenly began getting hangovers & now, in mid-70s, 1 glass of cheap wine will do it no matter how much water I take along w/ it. Doesn't happen w/ the more expensive wines (also w/ water).
21
I can now afford more expensive liquors and wine and can't remember the last hangover I had. On vacation, probably.
22
Hey, everything gets worse as you age!
Moderation is the key.
24
Moderation is for monks, everything in excess.
Having said that 3 day hangover when I turned 40 cured me of a lot of things.
22
This is where the people who smoke pot and avoid alcohol get to feel superior.
121
At 65, my interest in excessive drinking has drastically diminished and I don't like the feeling of being overly inebriated. An interesting recent side effect of drinking alcohol is that I often wake up in the middle of the night burning up from the inside out- as though I can feel the sugar in the alcohol blazing through my system (and no, I cannot attribute this to menopause as that is a passage long in the past,) I've learned not to drink past 8 p.m. and a drink to quiet my mind before bed is a terrible activity. As a result, the older I get, the less I can tolerate alcohol and the less I desire it- despite my increased anxieties over living in these crazy times. And hangovers and the cost of drinking are no longer a problem!
42
To enjoy drinking requires practice. Science has unlocked many secrets in this regard.
The hepatic metabolic pathway must have sufficient time to ramp up processing capacity - sometimes a few weeks of gradually increasing dosage is necessary. Too rapid and the system is overwhelmed and hangover results.
Drinking earlier in the day and stopping well before bedtime is advisable - as with eating, the body metabolizes better when awake, and there is less residual alcohol pooled in the peripheral vasculature on waking.
A full night's sleep is essential to avoiding a hangover - 10.5 hours is the recommended duration.
Most important is what you drink : impurities are the primary cause of hangovers. The quality of the drink and ingrediends used matters.
Beer - and especially lager or pilsener - is least likely to cause problems. Hard alcohol is risky for many reasons - not unlike the difference in neurotoxicity between coca and cocaine.
Lower alcohol content is advisable to promote good liver and kidney health when consuming higher volumes.
Mixed drinks often have high amounts of sugar, which can cause many problems.
The residents of certain monasteries have been known to only survive on beer for extended periods.
36
The main problem with ethyl alcohol is it's two-step metabolism. The first step ethanol to acetaldehyde, occurs very quickly, on the order of millions of molecules per sec. The second step, acetaldehyde to citric acid, happens much slower, in the hundreds. This leads to a backlog of acetaldehyde, which is only one methyl group away from formaldehyde almost as nasty, and is responsible for many of the symptoms associated with a hang-over. While formaldehyde can make you blind, acetaldehyde is the stuff that makes dark sunglasses necessary as you pick at your Eggs Benedict and sip your Bloody at Sunday brunch.
One of the best ways to get rid of a hangover is to do something to speed up the conversion of acetaldehyde into citric acid. Citric Acid should sound familiar to anyone who's taken high school biology. It has a cycle named after it, the Citric Acid Cycle (TCA a.k.a. Krebs' Cycle), and is the principal substrate for aerobic respiration. Hard as it may be to imagine as you reach for the Alka-Seltzer, exercise will get rid of that hangover faster. It's the Law of Mass Action (chem 101), remove product (citric acid) from the system. The faster the citric acid is depleted by exercise, the faster the acetaldehyde is converted into it.
59
Apologies but I neglected to include the very point that addresses the topic of this article: as we age and settle into a sedentary lifestyle, we both lose muscle-mass and what muscle remains, being unused, is metabolically less active. Both of these factors contribute to a decreased ability to clear alcohol and its nasty metabolite.
28
Speaking as a recovered alcoholic (29 years), the best hangover cure I ever found was to not let my blood alcohol level get too low. Like stay above .2. Of course, there were other problems, but not having hangovers was a plus....
18
Anyone who isn't in their twenties and drinks alcohol knows that more than a reduction in tolerance causes hangovers to get worse as you age.
16
I think the tolerance notion mentioned is probably correct for the letter writer. Over the last year or so I've gone from drinking once or twice a week to drinking once a month or less. At the same levels of alcohol my hangovers amazing now (when i was a more regular drinker hangovers seemed much less pronounced, if I even noticed them at all). The flipside benefit is, if I can remember my tolerance is diminished and pace myself accordingly, I get the same buzz from one beer now that I used to get from three. Healthier and cheaper. I find just one month of alcohol abstinence is enough for me to basically reset my alcohol tolerance to that of a non-drinker.
18
I have only had a few memorable hangovers in my life, because I found them so horribly unpleasant that I rarely ever drink enough to get one. A glass of wine or beer with dinner is nice, but drinking to the point of getting a hangover means you are poisoning yourself. Why do it?
39
Alcohol destroys gut flora.
Since we are all operating on compromised gut microbiome and mineral / hydration levels due to current monoculture agricultural methods, the body tolerates drinking, as well as sugar intake and gluten- based foods less and less well.
Increased intolerance to alcohol is not so much a question of age. It is a question of compromised health. It is just a lot more likely to show up in people who have been living in the pollution soup of the modern era longer, that is to say, older folks.
16
What about sleeping habits? When I was a student and drinking until the sun came up, I would sleep in until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Sleeping like that is not so easy with grown-up responsibilities.
14
A few tips:
1. Order one beer at a time, not three
2. Leave the bar at least 15 minutes before closing
3. Before retiring, add scented ammonia to the bowl next to your bed
4. Two shots of Popoff Vodka before driving to work
5. Try to act normal as you walk to your office; smile but don't attempt eye contact.
21
Try detoxing your liver. Milk thistle oil is a good beginning.
7
Age may be a factor; but regardless you should always hold this fact clearly in your mind.....or rather...as clearly as you can if you've hoisted a few....you're drinking a poison. The ecological system that is your body cannot tolerate it much, if at all. So my advice is just to stop. And to the young my advice is to never start.
But (for those young), if you do start, consider that not only is it a poison it also does two additional things to everyone. For one, it releases inhibitions. This is why it's so effective in social situations. For the other, it obliterates good judgement. And it does these two things in that order.
So when you raise that cup of hemlock to your lips consider not only its poisonous aspects, but also the reality that it very well may make you into an idiot at some point in the evening. And that can occur regardless of your age.
John~
American Net'Zen
27
Oh please. People have been eating/drinking fermented fruits and grains and vegetables forever. Probably from before people had fire to cook with. I would propose and argue that it's more than likely that alcohol is probably a large factor in the growth of the human population of the planet. Assuming you think such an increase was a good thing, I guess.
In any event, alcohol is regularly shown to reduce all cause mortality, when consumed in the proper amount.
I'm 73 now, working hard on maintaining my muscle mass and not missing many opportunities for drinking. But as my father said a couple of years ago, and he's 101 now, when we asked him if he wanted a drink... He said no, that he suffered from diminished capacity. See:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal/diminished%20capacity
I recommend going easy on self-righteousness, and continued drinking.
36
I find that there is nothing that a good nap can´t cure.
11
Poppycock. I'm 69 and I drink a lot of beer and sometimes shoot vodka. I can't remember the last time I had a hangover. Maybe it's the old adage: Avoid hangovers; stay drunk. I don't need someone doing studies to tell me that I shouldn't be drinking as much as I do long before he or she was born.
13
Funny and informative!
4
I have yet to meet anyone (I'm 72) whom I like better because they are drinking alcohol.
43
I have, however, met plenty of people that I like better because I'm drinking alcohol. ;)
181
Maybe folks forget about what they did when they were younger to prevent getting sick?
My prevention: Burger before drinking to coat the stomach and pizza or other carb to sopp it up.
“Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor never sicker” words to still live by
7
I quit drinking alcohol ~3 years ago. I don't have hangovers.
22
Do hangovers ever get better?
7
In my case: No. I used to drink more when I was younger, but the slow down in imbibing makes no difference. Everybody is different.
3
Recovery from workouts, lack of sleep, and illnesses all are taking longer and getting harder as I age. I'm not a drinker, but can't see why that wouldn't be any different. Maybe we need a "masters" category for drinking as well as sports!
4
At 70, I wake up each morning feeling like I have a hangover even though I didn’t drink anything the night before. Is there a reverse effect? Perhaps a drink before bed will make me feel 20 in the morning?
16
You might have sleep apnea, which can cause this exact feeling. Using a CPAP machine, though somewhat unpleasant, might eliminate this ... and keep you healthier as well.
6
I'm in my 40's and have hardly drank alcohol at all in the past couple years. On one recent night I had a small glass of wine and that was enough to give me a mild hangover the next morning. Practice makes perfect!
4
I've never been a heavy drinker - had one bad hangover forty years ago and never wanted to drink that much again. But in my late forties, I just stopped enjoying alcohol altogether: no buzz, no fun. And then as menopause began, alcohol exacerbated the night sweats and sleeplessness. So I just cut it out. Every once in a while, I'll have a drink or two, but I pay for it with sleeplessness. Ultimately, it's not worth it, especially since there is no longer any pleasure attached to it. Would much prefer marijuana, but it's illegal where I live! When are the other states going to clue in and legalize it?
27
The final sentence is at least a beginning for people who think their problem is hangovers but are not willing or ready to believe the problem is alcohol itself. Every alcoholic beverage contains varying amounts of sugar, ether and alcohol. As a drug, alcohol is highly volatile and more so when interacting with the other two substances. Hangovers over a lifetime can lead to strokes, memory loss, And perceptual problems. Not to mention panic disorder and chronic depression. The body is in crisis and must rally all its immune defenses. After awhile there is less capacity for the system to correct itself.
If you are unable to control your drinking or it continues to make you sick, you are a problem drinker. Get help as soon as possible. There 1800 AA meetings weekly in the New York area. And of course consult your physician.
10
Jeez, she said she had one drink after a period of abstinence. The article responded appropriately that the lack of exposure to alcohol could be the cause of the hangover and unfortunately for social imbibers, the only surefire way to avoid a hangover is to practice total temperance. Pretty straightforward question, pretty straightforward answer.
Yes of course alcoholism is a serious problem in modern U.S. culture. Not the case here so your response to this woman’s innocuous question - you can’t accept your problem, you’ll suffer delusions, contact a physician, there are 1,800 aa meetings across the country, if you can’t control it you’re a problem drinker - seems unrelated, extreme and frankly a bit condescending to someone simply wondering if a scientific explanation is out there.
Sorry for the essay of my own but perhaps your efforts would be put to better use on a forum for actual addicts or better yet, as an in-person mentor for ppl with addiction issues. Good luck.
12
I think what what you're missing (and what the first writer understands) is that most drinkers, even the so-called "normal" ones are "actual addicts." Alcohol is an addictive drug and if you use it regularly you get addicted. Once you embrace that common-sense fact, everything becomes a lot clearer. We are surrounded by people who are addicted to alcohol. The real problems are 1) Our culture makes us ashamed to use the word "addiction" when it obviously applies to us. 2) We have a picture of the "alcoholic" as a black-out rummy, and it's easy to say "that's not me." 3) The culture and of course the alcohol industry conspire to make us feel like regular drinking is "normal" --- even "healthy!" Got to have those "two glasses" a night for your heart right?
We all know the best move is to NOT drink alcohol. Has anyone ever turned to someone who doesn't drink and said, "You got to pick up this habit!" Quitting is tough, because once again, YOU'RE ADDICTED TO A DRUG. I never had a hangover in my life, was a completely "normal" drinker and boy it was so damn hard to quit, when I finally did it. Never miss it in the least now! Good luck, and I hope you get sober too.
13
I’m 60. Hangovers are not a problem. I stopped drinking. I’m not being holier than thou, I just found drinking expensive and I didn’t want hangovers anymore. Also I get gout easily. People assume I don’t drink because I’m alcoholic. (I’m large and red-faced and Irish.) I don’t care. You know what’s GREAT for hangovers? A CPAP machine. Seriously.
16
Even though my tolerance for alcohol has deminished, I still enjoy a martini before diner on Friday evenings, makes me feel like James Bond. You need to listen to your body and adjust your behavior accordingly. 69 years old and shaken not stirred.
29
If you want to avoid a hangover, don't drink. It is that simple.
12
Age definitely seems to be a factor with many people. I've noticed that body parts may also affect the outcome. After having my gallbladder removed, my tolerance dropped off a cliff. The amount of alcohol that used to leave me feeling a little tired the next day will now, without fail, result in violent 24-hour dry heaving which begins over 12 hours after the last drink. Perhaps an alcohol metabolite? No matter, I'm done with that!
10
Drinking less has nothing to do with this. Tolerance is not the concern.
Damage, ongoing damage, to the gut MicroBiome is involved.
Rodney Reynolds Dietert PhD of Cornell published. Get the book.
10
There are some historians who believe that without the emergence of cheap gin in England, we'd never have managed the industrial revolution. Gives one pause, no? (Marx says some similar in his essay "Wage Labor" from the 1830s.)
Ever read a daily journal of American carpenters/joiners from mid-19th century? -- there used to be a whiskey wagon that'd come round several times a day....you can guess the rest.
In short, though alcohol is poison, it can be (maybe even _must be_) part of modernity/capitalism, and we all know why: it calms you down!
However, life in the US is so out-of-whack the past while, I can hardly endorse anyone taking up spirits.
For those already in the mix: exercise and two glasses of wine, plus a good book, ought to do it!
22
The answer to the question should have just been once sentence: "We don't know why alcohol creates hangovers so we have no idea why they get worse with age." Oh, and for sure leave off the idiotic "just don't drink" comments. We kinda knew that already. It's like saying: "the sickness caused by drinking can be prevented by not drinking." Thanks genius!
125
People clearly don’t know it. They are slowly rotting away on the inside, sip by sip, yet they don’t know it.
17
Are we speaking of the same alcohol whose abuse/addictions prevalence rate is an order of magnitude (roughly) greater than prescription opioids or heroin, whose indirect and direct costs exceeds those of all other forms of substance use/abuse or mental illness (at least that was the case the last time I reviewed the data - more recent estimates indicate economic burden of 0.45% to 5.44% of total GDP associated with use of alcohol - and of course, when it comes to surveys and use of alcohol, people under-'estimate' their drinking and its impact on their functioning, e.g., one source - whose accuracy I cannot verity but I'll cite it anyway - one source says 95% of those who need treatment for alcoholism believe they do not heed treatment)....
So now, if a comment like "just don't drink" is idiotic, then by the same inverted logic that underlies that comment, a truly intelligent comment would be something like "15 to 30 minutes before the hangover kicks in, take a therapeutic dose of extended-release oxycontin". I'll bet that would handle very nicely all of the discomfort associated with drinking. Then you could move on to methadone to reduce the craving for opioids. But do not take the oxycontin at the SAME time that you are drinking because that could be hazardous to your health.
Regarding not drinking as an "idiotic" cure for hangovers is indeed a penetrating commentary on what lies at the heart of the problem here- which is denial - not hangovers.
11
"Quit drinking" is not a holier-than-thou suggestion. It's the obvious answer. But it's your choice. Do what you want.
15
How can we put a man on the moon but can't create a simple hangover cure?
30
I once asked a biologist a similar question. He replied: "Putting a man on the moon was just engineering."
7
That's rather like asking why we can't "cure" the flu faster. Your body has to process what it's processing. A hangover is a sign you've had too much to drink, and your body has to metabolize it--painfully. Everyone's different and most of us change as we age. Learn what your body can tolerate, and if it's too much, dial it back. Hangovers, unlike moon landings, ain't rocket science.
8
Try with Dihydromyricetin. And with everything that makes increase GDNF, like luteolin, cabergoline.......
1
Say wha? Try an AA meeting, silly!
7
Just drink gin and give up those nasty chemicals
3
The complainant is in their early 40's and is having trouble with the occasional bender? Odd... at that age I never had that problem. They probably need to get fit aerobically. Eat something solid that is a little starchy (do not think dieting or just greens...) with your drink and hydrate.... oh, and maybe an aspirin or two before crashing.
9
Haha. That’s not the problem. Read the chapter “More About Alcoholism” in the Nook of Alcoholics Anomymous”—all about “foxes” so you can keep getting plastered. Not a healthy life goal!
3
“Hang over “ maybe the description of the feeling associated with poor sleep due to Sleep apnea. It is well documented that alcohol makes sleep apnea worse.Once Sleep apnea is corrected by CPAP it is amazing how much better you can feel the next morning even after consuming alcohol.
5
"The biological basis of hangovers is still unclear."
What? A vast gaping hole in our human learning! Quick, federal research funding! Perhaps a ragtag team of iconoclastic biologists, chemists and drunks, a la The Dirty Dozen or Suicide Squad.
6
1 red onion, 1 beet, 1 clove garlic, 1 carrot, 1 bunch kale. Pulp raw in a blender with some water, freeze the pulp in ice cube trays. On "morning after" dissolve two cubes in 1 pint water with a pinch of salt. Sip it down to the dregs, refill with water one more time. Best hangover helper I've ever tried, and believe me I've tried 'em all. Happy tippler for 40 years and going strong!
4
I disagree with their conclusions. I have had one shot of scotch or gin a day for the past 20 years until late last year when I had to quit completely. The loss of sleep quality and the lack of control of my internal thermostat were the problems that got worse as I went from 60 to 80. In the end the gout in big toe was the final straw.
11
You’ve got to be kidding! Quit drinking. Alcohol is poison. No wonder your body reacts badly. I ought to know: I’m an alcoholic. Sober now 13 years.
54
Regular moderate drinking is a much better solution than abstinence for most people.
8
Good for you!!! Please keep it up! (Daughter of an alcoholic father that never quit)
14
That's why I smoke pot when I want a buzz.
44
Pot makes you dumb. Try studying a foreign language or taking piano lessons. Drinking is not living. It’s not anything but drinking. Smoking ganja is boring. And the new stuff stinks to high heaven.
7
Oh gosh, the law of cause and effect again. Don’t play unless you’re willing to pay. Careful with the hydration — that can be overdone, too.
8
Insulin production from beta cells in the pancreas decreases as we age. It seems to me that liver function, and the ability to process alcohol decreases as we age.
It might be that our organs are capable of only a finite number of metabolic, biochemical reactions. And as we get up in years, organ function slows down. Hence, it might be a good idea to go easy on alcohol and drugs when you are older, as well as younger. You only got one liver, and it is only capable of so much work throughout a lifetime.
I surprised that Dr. Marc Schuckit, a professor of psychiatry, did not mention liver function. Because toxic alcohol and its breakdown components surely have a synergistic effect on neurotransmitter substances and brain function.
35
That makes for a much better article than the original which was full of no information. Thank you!
17
All the “good tasting” booze is high in histamines - beer, wine, whisky- which can be tough on the body if you are averse to that type of thing. Also many wines have all kinds of additives in addition to sulfites; juice concentrates, wood chips, egg whites for fining, etc. All of these things can contribute to making a hangover worse because they are essentially “impurities” as far as your body is concerned. I find that less tannic “New World” wines are better if you want to avoid the classic weird wine hangover. Pre-hydrating is also important. Coconut water with a spalsh of cran-grape is a great pre and post drinking beverage. But drinking rarely and drinking the good stuff when you do is the best option I’ve found.
26
I think everyone in here has made good points, but I would like to provide an additional reason. I think part of it could be that hangovers SEEM much worse because of adult responsibilities. When I use to go out drinking all night, if I was hungover I could sleep in and skip class. If you're having to wake up and get the kids to school and then have a long day at work, it's less likely you're getting the extra sleep you may need. Also my job makes me notice it. I could show up to work terribly hungover when I was a bartender, and I work it off in a couple of hours. Sitting at a desk and trying to focus with even the slightest hangover is miserable.
79
I never drank much till my second tour of college, I was in my mid 20's. This was also due to the second trip to college I was not living with my parents, Me and my brother went off to an out of state college when he graduated from High School, and I was looking for a college that held my choice of a degree. So over the first few months I was introduced to alcohol again. I knew of it before, but my dad had sworn off drinking anything, when a fellow co-worker got drunk and tried to kill himself.
Those first few years of drinking were also plagued with stomach issues, due to gastric issues. Then I too sworn off heavy drinking, for most of the rest of that decade. Only getting drunk once in a while. Out of the habit less could tip me over the edge. Now I try to avoid being drunk, but do drink, I will get the oh my I think that was to much, when I notice my sleep being bad.
At almost the middle 50's I don't want hang overs, I like the taste of things, But humans should avoid to much of just about everything.
I collected Glass bottles in that second college, so I was always buying alcohol. I don't have t he space for bottle collecting, but of the bottles do have, lots of them, aren't empty.
Maybe we do live and learn, would hate to not live and learn. Laughs.
9
Hard cider - readily available in France, free of sulphites and with only 4% alcohol - has become my senior gift to my liver ad to my head. No aches and just a sweet little buzz.
19
In addition, as you age you are more likely to have sleep apnea which worsens with any alcohol and can cause morning headaches and fogginess, and fatigue all day.
9
The question posed in the article and the reader comments beg larger questions:
Why are so many people continuing to ingest a liquid that makes them feel ill the next day?
49
Because it makes you feel good right now.
18
In the summer of 2016, I got the shingles shot, which gave me a reaction and required 5 days of sulfa drugs. Since then, I cannot drink wine without a problem the next day, including headache and upset stomach. Now I only drink beer and hard liquor.
3
In the US they add sulfa as a preservative. My wife has the same issue so she has switched to French and Italian wines.
6
Sulfa is an antibiotic, completely different than the sulfites that are added to nearly all wines (including nearly all French and Italian wines)
8
Sulfur does not cause headaches. If it did, no one would eat dried fruit. It can cause breathing problems in asthmatics. The origin of a wine does not have anything to do with the amount of sulfur added to a wine. Sulfur is added to wines in every region in the world, not just the US. French and Italian wines do not inherently contain less sulfur than CA wines. That's a decision made by the winemaker based on the pH of the wine, the filtration regiment and the philosophy of the winemaker.
6
As a healthy, social, married NY’er in my 40’s I can say that I drink what most everyone that I know in my social/professional circles consider reasonable - albeit what most people outside of NYC would easily consider heavy or even “binge”. And, yes, while the occasional hangover laid to excessively consuming happens, it is rare - mostly because as an adult, one knows their limits. Simply put, enjoy only to the point where it’s known to be unenjoyable. Moderate, as one deems moderate to ones own life. There is no formula to life, nor is there one size that fits all. Instead live ones life to the point where there’s balance between moderation and enjoyment.
57
How I wish I was in my 40s when I could drink with just a little pain. In the 50s forget it. I still do but not often and I pay a very steep price.
Age is the BIGGEST factor
4
Or just have a Perrier with grapefruit flavor. Drinking is nothing but drinking. People who drink habitually cannot admit how boring they become after a few drinks. Hopefully our culture will abandon it when it is linked to so many chronic diseases.
10
Medical researchers in Australia came up with a hangover cure: the juice of a certain type of pear. An article about the research appeared in this paper. It was thought that as we age, the stomach does not produce certain enzymes which are found in this pear juice that helps metabolize the alcohol. I.E age related. I for one cannot drink wine with sulfites which are added to wine as a preservative. Rather than California wines with high sulfites, try European wines or new brands without sulfites added. Better yet, enjoy your new healthier limits!
12
I can't speak to the pear juice phenomenon, but everything else written here is a myth. Sulfur does not cause headaches. It can, however, cause breathing problems in asthmatics. The origin of a wine does not have anything to do with the amount of sulfur added to a wine. Sulfur is added to wines in every region in the world, not just CA. European wines do not inherently contain less sulfur than CA wines. That's a decision made by the winemaker based on the pH of the wine, the filtration regiment and the philosophy of the winemaker.
2
Amazed that this article didn't mention the obvious: liver function. Poor liver function won't show on medical tests until it's severe, but early signs like these are telling you to "love your liver" and repair it while you still can with supportive herbal foods.
39
I noticed that I started paying a price for my drinking the day after once I turned 30. At that point I could no longer go out drinking until 2-3 am and still function at work the next day.
Once I hit 50, I found that if I had even two drinks (beer or wine) that barely gave me a buzz, I would have a mild hangover the next day. I had long since stopped drinking to get high, so once I started to pay a price for drinking without getting any of the fun, I've limited myself to a single drink with rare exception.
21
The answer here would be yes. Beer is out for me. A couple glasses of wine, ok, but that's it.
6
Dilly dilly. As long as we are flooded/entertained with beer commercials we can be confident generations of drinkers will continue to be spawned. I don't mind being hungover by the way. The Navy trained me well.
8
The ability to excrete toxins lessons as we age kidney and liver function usually are responsible
14
I was never much of a drinker, but now even a little alcohol will ruin my entire weekend. Not worth it! The only problem is the continued peer pressure. In my 40s! Doesn't that ever end?!
62
My big excuse for binge drinking was peer pressure. How could I possibly face my drinkin friends and not drink? Well I quit back in 2007 for the last time. I have received nothing but PRAISE from friends AND servers when I say that I don't drink. Many say "I wish I could do that." If your friends mock you or try to force you, get new friends. Peer pressure is a red herring.
36
If you are firm and clear your real friends will lay off you.
10
Your comment about constant peer pressure, even in your (and my) 40’s made me laugh out loud! ‘So true!! Ha, Ha!!
7
I stopped reading after the first sentence...” you re not drinking as much as you used to...” problem solved...res ipsa, as the lawyers say...drink like you used to...cheers!
12
If you consume a 100 mg Cannabis edible before drinking you probably will not get a hangover and you will sleep well. And I am well over 65 years old and have been doing this for many years.
19
If you are consuming a edible, why even bother drinking, just have some water.
20
100mg? I find that 10mg is enough. And agree... I usually don’t really want to drink all that much then.
9
Whoa there-100 mg seems like a LOT to me-maybe work up to that, but if you are just starting with edibles, I would frankly start off with a much lower dose!
12
Everything gets worse as we age.
174
Almost everything.
20
Bingo Marc, you stole my post!
7
My dad, a cocktail-a-night drinker, lost his tolerance for alcohol in his 50's. He ended up in the ER with a severe asthma attack several times before he figured out the cause. I too lost my ability to imbibe in my 50's. Sometimes a single sip of wine or beer would trigger a headache or upset stomach. I miss being able to have a beer or a martini once in a while, but it's just not worth the subsequent discomfort. Life goes on.
53
Why did the author consult psychologists for a physiology question? They should have spoken with a doctor or pharmacologist. Another way to phrase it is: what effect (if any) does aging have on the metabolism and side effects (hangover) of a particular drug (alcohol)?
Aging has been well documented to affect the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drug metabolism. (Basically how well the body takes in, breaks down, and gets rid of the drug.) For those interested, here’s a good overview from the NIH library:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1884408
It would be surprising if there weren’t aging related effects on alcohol metabolism as well, though it’s certainly possible. Unfortunately the article didn’t attempt to answer the question scientifically so we don’t know.
111
I thought it was common knowledge hangovers get worse with age, and 40 sounds about right. I never drank regularly, but in my 20s I could put down 3 or 4 beers pretty much with impunity. By my 30s I started getting headaches and by my 40s half a bottle would give me a splitting headache next day, so I gave it up entirely. Not a universal experience surely, but I think a very common one.
49
I teach Mental Health First Aid for Older Adults. According to the curriculum, women are especially affected as they age and find their tolerance decreases overtime. This may be due to a decrease of a stomach enzyme as we age. Apparently this does not hold true for men. I am 55 and find no more than 2 drinks over the course of a evening ( with food) is my limit. Otherwise feel not hungover, but a bit fuzzy the next morning
6
I don't know if Hangovers are getting worse, since I'm not much of a drinker, but I do know, as I've gotten older, that one glass of red wine, gives me a headache! It didn't do that when I was younger!!!
13
Quality of sleep after you have been drinking seems like an important determinant of hangover. Hydration is part of that, along with getting some electrolytes as are found in tomato juice or V8 or OJ. Getting a little caffeine in before you crash seems to help, a cup of tea or some coffee. I think the caffeine helps to normalize your sleep pattern, counteracting the depressant alcohol effects. Throw in a low dose of aspirin also. And yes, hangovers get worse as you age - to address the article directly.
9
It's not the hangovers, as others point out, it's the annoyance of having even just a couple drinks and then waking up at 2 am. Doesn't always happen, but happens enough to basically hang it up on drinking.
15
Unfortunately they do. But if one consumes copious amount of H20
( water...specific gravity =1000 kg/m3 or 1.940 slugs/ft3) you can ameliorate the effects over over imbibing. Also, if you stick to vodka you'll be better off. The purer the vodka the more of it you can drink and the more mild the hangover...but drink responsibly. Red wine gives me a blistering hangover if I consume it on an empty stomach....so it's always a good idea to have a stomach full of food to slow the absorption of the ethanol into the bloodstream..and eventually the brain.
9
Agree with RKD the quality of the wine makes a huge difference to the "after-affects"; as does the percentage of alcohol in the wine.
The type of drink also makes a difference. Wine with a meal is civilised; alcohol consumed alone without food is probably a recipe for a hangover and other health problems.
A twenty year old's tolerance of alcohol may be no better than a 40 year olds, the twenty year old may be just more willing to put up with, ignore, tough-out the after affects. Is there any evidence that by 40 physiological changes have taken place that reduce one's tolerance for alcohol?
6
Instead of hangovers, if I have more than 2 glasses of wine, I end up with a form of insomnia, where I fall asleep initially, then wake up an hour or so later, and then toss and turn, the rest of the night. Lack of sleep, has helped me to cut back in all alcohol.
155
Dr. Ray actually seems to imply that you could reduce your chances of hangovers by drinking more regularly, thereby increasing your tolerance...but the takeaway the author wants you to have is to drink less. Which is it?
58
Both are true. If you insist on drinking, do it more regularly. But if you are conscientious about your body, experience alcohol-related apnea, or susceptible to hangovers, don't drink. I thought that was pretty clear.
4
This person made it clear that they get a hangover from ONE drink and that they are drinking water already. Your experts did not answer their question at all.
278
“The only cure is to cut back or stop drinking.”
12
Not really. The questioner said he “can’t even have one” without getting a hangover. If he was telling he truth, the experts explained it was likely low tolerance. But it sounds like this person may be struggling to reduce, is used to drinking everyday and just can’t understand why he feels bad. Probably it’s time to just call it quits.
4
Anecdotal but in my 70s, whereas I could drink w/ impunity earlier, one glass of wine can now give me a hangover but pricier wines have much less impact than cheap plonk.
32
Cheap wine will always give you a hangover. I drink wine that it at least $10 a bottle -- brand name etc. etc I know alcohol is alcohol, however, better quality in anything should produce better results (I hope).
3
In my experience of my peer cohort (I am in my mid-50s), a significant number of us began to experience problems with drinking alcohol - but especially wine alcohol - within the three hours before going to sleep. We could fall asleep, but halfway through our usual night, we'd awaken and not be able to fall back into good sleep for the rest of the night. (This pattern is *independent* of nighttime urination urges.)
The sad news: notice if you have this pattern and, if so, abstain in the evening from the alcohols that prompt it. Good sleep hygiene is far far more important as the foundation of your good health than you now realize. Get it while you can. Learn to enjoy mocktails and other beverages in the evening, and look forward to luncheon/brunches/teas for alcoholic beverages.
108
Though alcohol is initially sleep inducing, the by product of alcohol metabolism (acetaldehyde) is a stimulant. Hence the fragmented sleep.
81
Agree completely on you late evening wine observations.
What would you recommend as a good breakfast beer? I'm thinking oatmeal stout...
19
Hold the line at one glass of wine and feel divine!
17
In my twenties I could have a glass of wine or beer at lunch and function in the afternoon. Couldn’t do that in my thirties, but I could have a glass of wine at dinner and stay awake to watch TV or read. That ended in my forties. By my fifties two glasses of wine in the evening and I felt it the next day. Now that I’m over seventy, two glasses of wine in the evening make it impossible to sleep through the night and I’m useless the next day.
I don’t think this has anything to do with “practice” or tolerance because I have never been much of a drinker. And I’m fitter and carrying less body fat than did as a younger person. Something else is going on.
206
Same here. Currently mid-50's. Can only have one beer/wine or maybe 1.5 at max. Two servings and I feel too horrible the next day. Absolutely cannot drink during the workweek and if I am planning on an intense workout on the weekend.
22