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Comment by mattgreenrocks | Hacker News Reader

I’m in my early 40s. My ability to metabolize alcohol took a steep nosedive a few years ago. I love a great marg/old fashioned/IPA, but I will feel depressed the next day no matter what. I’ve tried electrolyte supplementation, eating a lot, eating “right,” drinking a lot of water, etc.

My body has a hard time with it. So it’s rare that I seek it out. A small container of sake early in the evening might be my indulgence from now on.

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I had a similar thing until I stopped eating a certain brand of muesli. A different brand with seemingly the same ingredients was fine. I think it's something to do with processing of dried fruit. I believe there was some reaction between that and the alcohol I consumed later in the day. I only realised it was breakfast related on holiday and my breakfast habits changed. I found drinking to be consequence free as opposed to 1/2 a pint causing a certain headache the next afternoon. I experimented when I got home and completely solved my problem.

I was also in my early 40s when this happened for what that's worth.

you might have FODMAP sensitivities.

I’m about to hit 40, and I’ve had this exact same experience. Even a single beer, shot of whiskey or glass of wine will leave me feeling depressed for at least a day afterwards.

For me it seems to correlate with having had COVID back in 2021, where prior to that I could still have 2-3 drinks and feel okay the next day. My suspicion/intuition is that it has something to do with a shift in my gut microbiome - from what I understand, alcohol can very easily disrupt one’s microbiome, and the state of my microbiome seems to have a significant influence on my mood.

I haven’t missed the alcohol though. It’s actually been a blessing for my general health and wellbeing.

Precisely the same experience here. Since Covid even a single drink makes me feel bad enough to not want to again… and I always had bad hangovers. This is different

I had a similar experience. For years I drank about 2 beers a night. Then in my early 40s, had a bout of "long covid" that lasted about 6 months. I have fully recovered, but can't drink like I used to. If I have one or two beers, I feel crappy and down the next day. Also the buzz isn't quite the same.

Interesting. I never connected it to covid-19, and truly cannot remember if it hit me as hard the next day or not prior to the pandemic. (Also, obviously I was younger then, too.) The only symptom I can connect to covid-19 is persistent tinnitus, which is pretty common among long-haulers (though I don't count myself among them).

However, I've also heard mention of people drinking less in general which could suggest a link.

There is some new evidence that changes occur at various stages in our lives, specifically one in the early-to-mid forties, that can affect things like alcohol metabolism[0][1]. I find this type of thing and the "epigenetic clock" research to be pretty fascinating to read about now that I'm approaching mid-life myself.

[0] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drastic-molecular...

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-024-00692-2

Never had a drink till junior year of high school, but immediately found I could drink incredible amounts of alcohol, 15-20+ cocktails, shots, beer, wine (mixing never caused me problems) and be virtually sober (obviously not clinically sober, and have no bio data) an hour or two after a long night.

Also kept a clear mind and mindful awareness throughout. Just euphoric & more social.

Then at 53, after some extreme stress, that completely changed. One drink slowly is usually fine. 2-3 drinks will upset my sleep. Any more and my next day suffers.

At 4-5 drinks my body feels like it has a slight fever over night. I feel overheated, whether I really am I don’t know. Just can’t process it efficiently.

More than that & I get socially sloppy. Not bad, but not welcome either.

But my very petite daughter in her mid 20’s inherited my relevant genes. Since high school she has to down two hard cocktails within ten minutes to start an evening of (more paced, but still steady) drinking with friends just to feel the effects, like I did most of my life.

She can out drink companions 2x her weight.

Also in common, neither of us is at alcohol addiction risk. Drinking is completely social/situational, no cravings or problems with abstention. We both enjoy the taste of alcohol. Scotch, neat, tastes like candy to me.

Drinking has always been at least as much about the gourmand exploration of flavors and varieties as the psychological effect.

I got my DNA analysis and one chromosome is 68% Caribbean pirate, 32% Viking, the other is split equally Russian/Irish.

Joking - but would be interested if relevant genes could be identified. I would happily sign up for gene or epigenetic therapy to resume my old life of refined epicureanism in excess.

Drinking mixed with lots of sparkling water, diet sodas, and a powder mixture of creatine, minerals, protein & fiber, before & after, reliably helps a bit.

Also, liver health remains excellent.

Genes!

My experience is similar. I can tolerate at most one cocktail, glass of wine, or beer (although I'll go malty over hoppy every time). One positive is that because of this limitation, I think I enjoy the drinks I do have a lot more.

A change that came along with this is some kind of sensitivity to sugar. I love candy and baked goods. A short stack of pancakes with maple syrup and berries is the best, but that kind of carb bomb can leave me feeling almost hungover.

Same here. Quit alcohol when I turned 40, the side-effects the next day of even 1-2 beers were not making it worth the buzz during drinking. Sleep issues, less focus and concentration, weaker performance in the gym, anxiety the next day etc. etc. It became a no brainer to simply stop drinking. To those with better ability to metabolize alcohol, cheers to you.

For me, the type of drink makes a huge difference the older I get.

I used to like wine, but the older I got, the more I started noticing having a terrible hangover the next day, even if it wasn't enough to get actually drunk or even buzzed. Type/brand of wine didn't seem to matter. But whiskey or vodka mixed with soda, no problem.

How much of that is your ability to metabolize dropped, versus the strength of common drinks has sky rocketed? Especially mentioning IPAs. It is not uncommon to find them in the 9% range. I remember drinking a ton of Guinness back in the day. Highly amused to find that that would be considered a light beer today.

Light, heavy, it doesn't really matter. I can get very little or no buzz from a 4% lager and still regret drinking the next day.

This somewhat intrigues me. An old fashioned and a 4% lager are very different, but you seem to be saying both will give you the same regret the next day?

Note that I largely resonate with the idea that aging reduces tolerance to alcohol. Love the Oatmeal's https://theoatmeal.com/comics/hungover. Hasn't quite hit me that hard, yet. Thankfully.

I'm a similar age and also a heavy drinker (15-25 drinks per week) but also run 40-50 miles per week + 5000-7000 feet of vert per week. My friends/family are astonished that I can crush 10 beers in an evening and run 15 miles the next morning w/o food. I suspect metabolism has alot to do with it.

Post-30 I found any amount of alcohol I really noticed the next day and concluded it just wasn't worth it anymore.

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