Hangovers Really Do Get Worse As You Age And Here’s Why That Happens

You’re not imagining things. Those hangovers that used to only exist after drinking that sugary Hunch Punch during Pig Roast or Spring Formal have gotten progressively worse. Every year that passes brings more severe hangovers, and it’s not just your mind playing tricks on you. Those hangovers are actually more severe, and there’s a scientific explanation for why those hangovers are getting out of control.

via NYPost:

1. You don’t have as many liver enzymes anymore
Your liver is a pretty important organ when it comes to drinking.
Alcohol is a toxicant, so your body has to break it down and get rid of the toxic parts – that is where the liver comes in.
Your liver has to break the toxin, ethanol, into something it can digest, called acetaldehyde.
The enzymes are responsible for this.
2. The recovery process of your body is weaker
George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism told the Huffington Post: “As one gets older metabolism changes; also neuroplasticity ― the ability of neuronal function to bounce back ― is thought to slow.”
3. Blame your lifestyle
4. Your meds make it worse
5. Stop denying your age (via NYPost)

The NYPost/The Sun UK go on to explain each of those bullet points in depth, so if you need more of a flushed out explanation than a few bullet points then follow that link above.

I look back on some of my drinking feats of yesteryear and wonder how I lived through them. Once, my bros and I were in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for New Year’s Eve and left the condo to hit the bars at 7pm. We didn’t come home until 1 pm the next day, with the bars staying open all night and when the sun came up the music shifted from reggae to EDM and everyone got their second wind.

I think I drank more in that 18-hour span than I did the time I crushed over 30 Natty Ices (I’m not a big guy) during a game of Wizard Staffs that ended with me having to sit on the roof of the house to drink out of my staff because it had grown so long. Nowadays, I don’t even want to tell you bros how little it takes for me to have a hangover to the next day. It’s embarrassing. I’ve reached the point where I can count on a hangover as a 100% certainty no matter what I’m drinking.

Now, if you’re curious as to what the cumulative amount of time you’ll spend hungover in life is, you can click here.

(h/t NYPost)

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Cass Anderson is the Editor-in-Chief of BroBible. Based out of Florida, he covers an array of topics including NFL, Pop Culture, Fishing News, and the Outdoors.