Hangovers of four days after your thirtieth

Yes, you read that right. Sag after your thirties can give you a four-day hangover. The first day is about being really sick, after that you can feel wobbly and emotionally unstable for days. And all because the years start to count and your body becomes different, so reacts differently.

That aging, and therefore changing body, doesn't really help when dealing with a night of pub crawling. For example, the kidney function decreases, the liver starts to work more slowly, your muscle mass decreases and your fat content increases. And that is not good, because muscles do not contain water and fat. Here's a look at why you experience more severe hangovers after your thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth...

The liver

Your liver works differently than a baby's liver. Less fast to be exact. An older liver has more difficulty processing alcohol than a young liver. Easy.

less moisture

An older body normally has less fluid than a younger body. Since alcohol also has the property to extract moisture from the body, you as an older person are more likely to be dehydrated than a younger one. And that lack of moisture is the main culprit behind the hangover.

More cortisol

Not everything diminishes as you get older. Cortisol production actually goes up. But that is not the intention… More cortisol (stress hormone) means more severe hangovers. Sorry.

Little variation

Since you know yourself well by now, you know that you should stick to that one type of drink. If you do go and have a drink for fun, then you have to pay for it the next day with all the misery that comes with a hangover. It is better to alternate with water…

Just perform

We can't really call this last note a 'cause' of such an excessive hangover. Not being able to sleep off your daze, because you lead a busy life in which the laundry, the errands, the work, the garden and the children don't do themselves: that's just bad luck. Your adult life calls you to order the next day, as the youngsters turn over in their beds one more time. Bah.

Mental hangover

Not only can the physical effects of a hangover be more intense or last longer, your mental state can also suffer. This can leave you feeling emotionally unstable for days. This is also known as a mental hangover.

You have an emotional hangover when the following day(s) you suffer from: gloomy thoughts, fear, restlessness, irritability, aggression, confusion, concentration problems, sleep disorders, lethargy or fatigue. Source: Trubendorffer.nl

So your mental dip after drinking a lot of alcohol is partly due to a purely physical reaction. Not knowing what you have said or done will of course not help. Precisely because you are a bit more wobbly mentally, you can lose yourself the day after in worrying and feelings of guilt, fear or gloom. The ability to put things into perspective is just as hard to find, just now that you can use an extra portion of this.