7 Reasons Alcohol and Caffeine Make You Feel Worse as You Get Older

You probably didn’t give a second thought to drinking a few glasses of wine or bottles of beer when you were in your 20s. But as the years roll on, the idea of taking a few bottles of beer or several cups of coffee becomes less attractive, and the reason for this- the effects on your body are felt more keenly. How come as we age, we feel the negative effects of caffeine and alcohol much quicker? Here are the main reasons experts gave on the matter.

1. Your Liver Is Not as Good at Processing Caffeine and Alcohol

Remember, any kind of excessive alcohol and caffeine consumption is not good at any age. These substances are metabolized in the liver but the process becomes less efficient as we age because the enzymes that break them down come less in quantity.

Since alcohol is being metabolized at a slower rate, it spends more time in your body and prolongs the hangover period. It’s a similar situation for caffeine. The substance is cleared out of the system more slowly as we get older hence the effect of staying alert for a longer time takes a longer time.

2. Muscle Loss

Experts recommend that you perform some weightlifting activities as you get older, to reduce muscle loss and its effects. Since our body composition changes as we age, we tend to gain more fat as we lose muscle. Muscle is roughly 75% water while fat may contain as little as 10% water. This means the amount of water stored in the body becomes less as we get older, which also implies alcohol is absorbed in the bloodstream more quickly.

If your water levels are deficient, you tend to increase your chances of dehydration which can lead to other symptoms like headache, when you consume alcohol. A hangover at an older age will occur even with smaller alcohol consumption than when you were younger.

3. Caffeine and Alcohol Disrupt Your Sleep

Disrupted sleep is one of the side effects of aging, and caffeine and alcohol wouldn’t help. Remember, your Rapid Eye Movement (REM) decreases after drinking but you need an optimal REM during sleep to boost your mental health, memory, and concentration.

Coffee is a stimulant that makes you stay awake and focused. It works by blocking the Adenosine receptors that promote sleep, this effect leads to the stimulation of more Dopamine, glutamate, and noradrenaline which are neurotransmitters that preserve cognitive functions. The overall impact of these chain reactions is that you feel more alert with your blood pressure and heart rates increasing significantly.

Remember, both alcohol and caffeine are diuretics, which means you may have to use the toilet several times at night.

4. Your Stomach is not as Good

It is uncommon for some people to develop acid reflux after taking alcohol or coffee. If you are getting older or predisposed to acid reflux it means your stomach is becoming easily irritated by alcohol. Some studies have revealed that alcohol consumption leads to the production of more stomach acid.

Since our muscles weaken as we age, the sphincter on top of your stomach may cause acid to flow back into the esophagus when not properly closed, leading to heartburn. Remember, alcohol and coffee relax your stomach sphincter muscle thus aggravating heartburn.

5. Hereditary Reasons

Sometimes, it may not be your age that is slowing down your body’s ability to handle caffeine or alcohol but some other factors that create changes in your body with time.

Studies have shown that aging may not always cause changes in blood sugar levels that disrupt metabolism that disrupt sleep, it might be as a result of a single mutation in one of the genes involved in caffeine metabolism- this can influence the duration of caffeine in your bloodstream.

The half-life for the clearance of caffeine from the body system may range from 1 ½ to 9 ½ hours, and if you are at the higher end of this range, having coffee or alcohol later in the day may cause problems when you sleep.

Other Factors

Many other metabolism-related issues, sex, body composition, and behavioral patterns are some other factors that make it hard for your body to tolerate the effects of alcohol and caffeine as you grow older. While some experts believe that heavier people tend to tolerate caffeine better, others have established that caffeine can be more detrimental to people with higher BMI by causing constriction to blood vessels thus elevating blood pressure.