Alcohol and Aging: Does Drinking Alcohol Make You Look Older

By harming the brain’s hippocampus region, which is responsible for forming brand-new memories. This suggests that people who consume alcohol excessively might have problems remembering essential details or recalling previous events precisely. Alcohol is a downer and can result in an inequality in serotonin levels in the brain, which can, even more, contribute to feeling down or distressed. When it comes to the aging process and aging well, sleep can be your best friend.

• Regular drinkers can trigger biological functions that make them age from the inside out.
• In a study examining long-term weight loss and drinking, participants who abstained from alcohol lost more weight — and kept it off — compared to those who continued to drink.
• Although drinking too much can make you fall asleep more easily, it also reduces the amount of time that you spend in the rapid eye movement, or REM, stage.
• Though drinking too much alcohol can make you fall asleep more quickly, it still reduces the amount of time you spend in rapid eye movement or stage REM.
• This can lead to stains, yellowing, and permanent tooth loss.

First, alcohol deprives you of vital nutrients your skin needs to thrive. So, overdoing the drinks can make you look older than you are. Because drinking alcohol dehydrates you, it can leave you with a dull look and bags under your eyes from poor quality sleep. To help battle the effects of drinking alcohol, drink plenty of water when you drink alcohol to stay hydrated. Stick to the guideline units of alcohol and have consecutive non-drinking days. If you are worried about the effect alcohol has on your physical and mental health.

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Redness – Blood vessels can burst and you can also have issues with blood rising to the surface causing red blotches or patches of redness on the skin/face. Skin – Due to dehydration your skin can become dry, wrinkly and lacking in natural colour. Heavy drinking also causes a loss of collagen and elasticity in the skin making it look aged.

While this condition is generally harmless, it is a visible sign of aging. Research shows that people who drink heavily have a 33 percent greater chance of getting arcus senilis, a telltale gray ring around their corneas before they turn 60. Red wine has antioxidants called polyphenols that may help your cholesterol level and protect your blood vessels. If you drink it in moderation (about one glass a day), some studies show that it might be good for your heart. But too much can lead to an abnormal heartbeat and high blood pressure. So if you don’t drink, this isn’t a good reason to start.

Say Goodbye to Acne and Other Skin Conditions

For example, you can exercise and adhere to a well-balanced diet. The biggest visible change that alcohol makes to the body is one that is actually indirectly made. When the liver gets damaged as a result of alcohol use, it can indirectly lead to skin damage. Regular drinkers can trigger biological functions that make them age from the inside out. If you drink heavily or consistently, you could activate the aging process, putting you at risk of health conditions that typically affect older people. Broken bones from a stumble are a serious health issue for seniors.

The ways in which alcohol can affect someone internally are widely known and documented. Overtime alcohol can do damage to key organs of the body including the liver and the brain. Alcohol can also lead to weight gain and other health-related issues. Alcohol and aging are also synonymous due to the negative effects alcohol has on the body.

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A good tip to remember for aging well is to alternate between alcoholic drinks and water. But did you know that this dehydration wrinkles our skin? When we’re dehydrated, our skin is dry from the inside out. Fine does alcohol make you look older lines and wrinkles appear, which continue to grow deeper with time. Hair & Nails – Your hair and nails can become brittle when you drink regularly, studies have even shown that alcohol can cause hair loss.

Please book your place on our next free quit-drinking webinar and learn how we have helped thousands of people like you quit drinking. These two inspiring books from leading sobriety coach Simon Chapple are out today! The perfect companion to Rock Bottom – The Sober Life Journal captures the essence of journaling and provides space to grow and develop as you embark on a sober life. Ideal for anyone contemplating a sober life come the new year, or from #dryjanuary. In a study examining long-term weight loss and drinking, participants who abstained from alcohol lost more weight — and kept it off — compared to those who continued to drink. Removing alcohol from your lifestyle can reduce the risk for obesity in some individuals and improve healthy weight management for people with Type 2 diabetes.

• Therefore, your risk of developing a chronic skin condition increases.
• Heavy alcohol use can even prevent the male body from being able to make testosterone properly.
• Long-term hefty drinking has actually been linked to depression as well as anxiety, which are frequently intensified by the absence of good-quality sleep.
• In elderly people, these symptoms can be mistaken as Alzheimer’s disease.

Alcohol may help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep, but it reduces the amount and quality of REM sleep that you get, which is what is most rejuvenating and important for aging well. I always urge anyone who wants to quit drinking to take a selfie on Day 1 and another one around 3-4 weeks into the journey and compare the differences between the two pictures. If you keep a journal write down all the differences you can see in your pictures, it is often a real eye-opener and helps provide even more motivation to keep going on your journey to sobriety.

The first thing you can do to reverse alcohol-aging is stop drinking. You can also begin detoxing to get any alcohol or other harmful substance out of your system. Our News, Politics and Culture teams invest time and care working on hard-hitting investigations and researched analyses, along with quick but robust daily takes. When you are sleeping, your body goes into a state of self-renewal and repair. Not getting enough sleep affects your skin, ability to concentrate and leaves you more susceptible to illness.

This includes vitamins A, B, D, and E; minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc; and even basics like proteins and carbohydrates. Alcohol’s all-around negative effect on nutrition means that heavy drinkers often become malnourished. This limits the body’s ability to maintain itself, resulting in faster aging.