It’s hard to escape the drinking culture in Australia. Almost every achievement, significant event and even days in the week are celebrated with a drink or two.
But with increasing evidence of how damaging alcohol can be to our bodies, maybe we should rethink our attitude towards alcohol.
Certainly, the World Health Organization (WHO) would like us to stop drinking. The official WHO stance is there is no safe level of drinking alcohol, and risks start “from the first drop”.
“We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is,” explains Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, from WHO.
Sadly, probably every one of us knows someone who has died from alcoholism. But while we know the big picture, why is alcohol so dangerous, especially as we age?
Here we break down some of the issues.
Not just a myth
You are not imagining it, your ability to tolerate drink really does decline with age. As our bodies slow down, our ability to metabolise alcohol also slows down.
Older people also tend to be less hydrated. Think about how plump and lovely your skin was in your 20s compared to now. If you are already somewhat dehydrated, alcohol is going to affect you more quickly.
Women have it worse
As women are generally physically smaller, the same amount of alcohol is going to hit them harder. Also, women generally have more fatty tissue, and therefore less fluid, in their bodies, which leads to a higher blood alcohol concentration.
And, finally, there are good old-fashioned hormones. Women’s fluctuating hormones and menopause play a pivotal role in metabolising alcohol, which is why some weeks you can drink half a bottle of wine and not feel it, and other times half a glass will put you over the limit.
Alcohol consumption has been clearly linked to breast cancer and just one drink a day can raise your chances of breast cancer by 9 per cent.
It doesn’t put you to sleep
A lot of people believe alcohol ‘relaxes’ them, and puts them to sleep, and it does, for a while. But in the short and longer term, you will experience disrupted sleep. Sleep is a reset the body and brain needs to keep functioning. Muck around with that too much and you risk obesity, depression, dementia, kidney disease and many more health conditions that increase as you age.
Another obvious issue is getting up to use the toilet. There’s no such thing as a sleep-in after a few late-night drinks.
Unsteady on your feet
We all know alcohol affects our balance and judgement. Falling into a bush or tripping over your feet is funny when you are younger, but the same foolhardy actions as you age can be devastating.
We are already a bit more unsteady on our feet, add alcohol to that, and the risk of a fall increases. As we age falls lead to an increased chance of hospitalisation, and are quite often the first indication of a steady decline in our health. I know two people who never really recovered from falls, and I can’t be the only one.
Anxiety
There’s a new term in the world that I can get behind and it’s called ‘hangxiety’. It very accurately describes the anxiety you feel the day after drinking.
I read up on it, and there were a lot of long scientific words but, in a nutshell, it’s your brain trying to balance its chemistry after drinking. And if you already suffer from anxiety, drinking will make it worse.
And it can also lead to a vicious cycle of drinking. You feel anxious, and believe what solves that is a few drinks, and hey presto, you have anxiety again the next day. And so it goes, with alcoholism the result in extreme cases.
What can you do
Thankfully, there are plenty of resources out there to help you cut down or stop drinking.
If you think it’s an issue for you, talk to your GP, but the following are a few simple steps recommended by the Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation to at least cut back.
- have spacers – drink something non-alcoholic between drinks
- finish your drink before a new one
- sip not scull
- water – drinks lots of it
- use small glasses
- eat before and during drinking – food can help slow down the effects of alcohol
- stay off the spirits
- slow drinking at your own pace, not trying to keep up with others
- set limits on what and how much you’ll drink – know how much a standard drink is to help keep track
- no pressure, it’s okay to say no.
Have you found your tolerance for alcohol has declined as you age? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?
Also read: Who are Australia’s biggest drinkers?
