Remember when you were in your early 20s and you could drink a ton, go out until 4am, and wake up the next morning ready to do it all over again that same night? We bet that’s not the case now. In fact, as we get older, it starts to take longer for our bodies to get over a hangover.
No matter what age you are, your liver can only metabolize approximately one drink per hour. If you’re drinking more than this, toxins start to build up in your body and bloodstream. When you get older, however, you have fewer liver enzymes and the rate at which you metabolize that one drink per hour slows, leaving behind more toxins that make you feel terrible the next day.
Another reason you get hungover is because as you age you lose muscle mass (and maybe get a little softer around the middle). This muscle used to be one of the biggest helpers in absorbing alcohol and you may feel like you get more hungover now because fat doesn’t absorb alcohol as well as muscle does. To equalize this change, drink alcohol more slowly to allow your body to absorb it properly, and drink as much water as you can to dilute it. Finally, perhaps the most important thing that is contributing to your intense hangover is the fact that you don’t drink as much and as often as you used to, which has reduced your tolerance for alcohol.