Drinking alcohol is one of the biggest causes of premature aging and more serious health issues. There are many myths surrounding alcohol use, but the sad reality is there is no healthy amount you can drink if you want to avoid accelerating the body’s natural aging process. Here is why alcohol misuse could add 10 years to your appearance and speed up wrinkles and aging.
1. It Dehydrates the Skin
Alcohol is a diuretic, so it increases the frequency of peeing, causing dryness and dehydration. When the skin loses moisture, it can become dry and flaky, which speeds up the formation of fine lines and wrinkles, aging you before your time.
2. It Produces Free Radicals
Alcohol is high in sugar and sulfates, which increase the production of free radicals, causing oxidative stress. Free radicals overthrow the body’s antioxidants, naturally occurring substances that protect the skin cells, tissues, and organs from damage and disease. When this happens, collagen production slows — collagen is the skin’s building block to keep it firm and radiant— and your skin loses firmness and elasticity, causing it to sag.
3. It Increases Redness and Irritation
Drinking heavily can cause redness, irritation, and sensitivity in the skin and also trigger alcohol-induced rosacea and make conditions like psoriasis and eczema worse. Changes to the skin’s texture, especially from can cause permanent damage to the capillaries, leaving your complexion ruddy, wrinkled, and unsightly.
4. It Makes Your Face Puffy
Because alcohol is a diuretic that makes you pee more, it causes water loss and dehydration. When the body senses it’s dehydrated, it clings onto its natural water levels, causing facial tissues to swell and resulting in a bloated, puffer fish face.
5. It Causes Nutrient Deficiencies
Drinking alcohol (especially in excess) depletes nutrient absorption, leading to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals. For good skin health, we need nutrients like vitamin A, B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and zinc. So when you lack, your skin becomes dry and aged, nails become brittle, and you can accelerate hair loss.
6. It Messes With Your Sleep
Drinking might send you off sleep faster thanks to an increase in adenosine, the chemical that induces sleep, but as your body metabolizes, its effects wear off. This can make you wake up earlier and more often and interfere with your natural sleep cycle. Sleep deficiencies cause dark circles, puffy eyes, and dry, dehydrated, aged skin and impact the skin’s ability to repair and rejuvenate overnight.
7. It Weakens Immune Function
Drinking regularly can also weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to infection, illness, and disease. In turn, weakened immunity speeds up aging as it impairs the body’s ability to heal and regenerate, leading to the formation of wrinkles, fine lines, and dry, dull, aged skin.
8. It Triggers Inflammation
Alcohol can cause systemic inflammation in the body, which damages the skin’s DNA cells and accelerates the rate we age. Inflammation can also trigger more serious health issues and diseases. Signs of inflammation in the body include redness, swelling, and joint pain, which can mess with your appearance and make you look way older than you are.
9. It Leads to Weight Gain
Alcohol is high in sugar and empty calories, so it’s a main contributor to weight gain and obesity culprits. When you’re overweight, you are also more at risk of serious health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. Those extra pounds can also cause stretched, sagging skin and wrinkles due to a loss of elasticity.
10. It Impacts Your Mental Health
Alcohol is a natural depressant, so it exacerbates stress and anxiety and leads to depression and poor mental health. When our mental health takes a dive, it decreases motivation, so you can also neglect your beauty, skincare, and exercise routine. Chronic stress manifests in the body in the form of premature aging, wrinkles, and health issues.
11. It Throws Hormones Off-kilter
Alcohol throws your hormones out of balance, particularly those that regulate stress and reproductive health. Hormonal fluctuations and imbalances can lead to skin issues like acne and premature aging. For women, alcohol can exacerbate menopausal symptoms, which can significantly impact your appearance and mood and make you look older.
12. It Disrupts Gut Health
Some studies suggest a link between the health of your gut microbiome and your diet and lifestyle. Alcohol can irritate the digestive tract, throw off your balance of good and bad bacteria, and cause acid reflux, gastritis, ulcers, and bloating. Poor gut health disrupts digestion and nutrient absorption, leading to deficiencies that damage and age your skin, hair, and nails.
13. It’s Bad for Your Bones
Drinking alcohol can prevent your body from properly absorbing calcium and other essential minerals, which can weaken bones and increase your risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A loss of bone density can also impact your posture, causing you to hunch and look older. Maintaining strong bone health is important as you age, as it can also impact the structure of your face and contribute to an older, saggier appearance.
14. It Can Lead to Disease
Alcohol can cause serious health issues. It’s the liver’s job to flush out toxins, and overloading it with alcohol can lead to fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis and cause a yellow, jaundiced appearance in the skin and eyes. Heavy drinking can also spike your blood pressure, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. This also reduces your supply of oxygen and nutrients, resulting in a dull and wrinkled complexion.
15. It is Misunderstood
Don’t believe the myth that a nightly glass of wine is good for you. There is no amount of alcohol you can drink to avoid any health risks or prevent speeding up the rate you age. A glass of red wine is not the secret to good health and skin, though grapes and berries are bursting with antioxidants, so that’s where that myth comes from. Drinking spirits mixed with sugary sodas also causes inflammation and skin aging. Limit your alcohol consumption (or avoid it altogether) to keep your body healthy an your skin looking radiant and more youthful.