WHY DO THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL FEEL DIFFERENT AS YOU AGE?
YOUR LIVER SLOWS DOWN
With age, your body becomes less efficient at breaking down alcohol, meaning it stays in your system longer. The liver produces fewer and less effective enzymes responsible for metabolising alcohol, making it harder for your body to eliminate it.
LESS MUSCLE + LESS WATER = BIGGER IMPACT
Muscle holds onto water, which helps dilute alcohol. As we age and lose muscle mass, alcohol becomes more concentrated in our bodies, leading to more potent effects. Since fat tissue has less water than muscle, older adults often experience a higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from the same amount of alcohol than younger people do.
HARSHER HANGOVERS
Slower metabolism + lower hydration levels = a harder-hitting hangover.
What causes this? Your body takes longer to process alcohol, and dehydration sets in faster. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it pulls water from your system, exacerbating the dehydration that contributes to hangover symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
Dehydration affects everyone, but it becomes an even more significant factor as you age. With less water in your system, a slower metabolism, and a liver that processes alcohol less efficiently, alcohol lingers longer, hits harder, and makes a recovery more challenging.
That’s where ABV matters. Alcohol is a diuretic, pulling water from your body. But beers brewed under 2.8% ABV, like Small Beer, sit below the diuretic limit, meaning you retain more water than you lose.
Less dehydration = fewer of the effects that make drinking feel harder over time.
WHAT IS THE DIURETIC LIMIT?
The diuretic effect of alcohol depends on how strong it is. Strong alcoholic drinks, like spirits, can increase urine output a lot in the first four hours, which can cause dehydration. However, beers with lower alcohol content, especially those under 5%, don’t have much of a diuretic effect.
This happens because alcohol blocks vasopressin, a hormone that helps the body hold onto water. At lower alcohol levels, the effect on vasopressin is weak, so the body can keep more water than it loses.
