As you get older, your body reacts differently to alcohol than it did when you were younger. For example, drinking more than a couple of drinks at night may keep you awake—which can make it harder to fall asleep the next day. And alcohol can have serious long-term effects on your health. So if you're wondering how much is safe for older adults or trying to figure out why that hangover felt worse than usual, here's what we know about alcohol's effect on our bodies as we age:
Alcohol can lead to weight gain.
Alcohol is high in calories, and can lead to weight gain if you drink it regularly. This is because alcohol disrupts your metabolism, which is how your body converts food into energy. Alcohol can also increase appetite and reduce your ability to exercise.
If you drink too much on a regular basis, you need to be aware of this so that you can cut it back or avoid it completely. If you do choose to consume alcohol, make sure not to overindulge—your body will thank you for it!
Alcohol may give you a boost in the short term, but the long-term effects of drinking heavily can be devastating.
If you've tried alcohol, you know how it can give you a nice boost in the short term. But what about the long-term effects of drinking? The truth is that while alcohol may make you feel relaxed and less stressed in the moment, it can also make you more aggressive and less likely to engage in risky behavior than when sober. In fact, there's evidence that chronic heavy drinkers have lower IQs than those who don't drink at all—and just one night of binge drinking has been shown to impair your cognitive abilities for up to 24 hours afterward!
The bottom line: if you're going to consume alcohol regularly, be sure not to exceed recommended daily limits (two drinks per day for men 20 years or older). You'll still get plenty of health benefits without risking overdoing it!
Alcohol can contribute to chronic disease.
Chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes can also be exacerbated by alcohol. Among adults, high blood pressure and cholesterol are often caused by excessive alcohol consumption; this can lead to an increased risk for developing heart disease. If you drink regularly, you may also develop liver damage that could eventually lead to liver failure or cancer.
Alcohol's negative effects on the body become more pronounced with age. For example, drinking heavily over time can cause your brain size to shrink—a condition called cerebral atrophy—as well as impair your ability to perform certain tasks such as driving a car or operating heavy machinery safely.
Heavy drinking is linked to memory loss and dementia.
Can't remember what you did last night? Did your boss ask you to run an errand and then forgot to do it? Did your friend say something about having dinner together that night, and now it's two weeks later and you're still waiting for a text from her? When was the last time you had no idea how much time had passed since noon?
These are all signs of alcohol-related memory loss. And if those things sound familiar—or if they're happening more often than usual lately—it may be because of what's happening in your brain.
Alcohol affects how the parts of our body work together, including our muscles and our brains. Alcohol has been shown to cause damage in these areas as well as others throughout the body:
The central nervous system (CNS) includes all parts of the brain, spinal cord, nerves that extend from this area into other parts of the body (such as limbs), and some organs (like pituitary gland) that aren’t technically part of either system but serve both systems by communicating with them through chemicals called hormones.* Damage can occur when alcohol interferes with these structures' ability to send signals between each other or process information effectively.* When this happens regularly over time due to heavy drinking habits like bingeing on weekends every month for years at a stretch without taking breaks between binges (as opposed to just having a few drinks here or there).
So, if you’re looking for a way to have some fun, keep in mind that alcohol is not the answer. It may give you an initial boost of energy, but it comes at the cost of much greater long-term health problems. If you want to feel good about yourself and avoid these risks altogether, then try something else—like exercise or meditation.
Comments