Effects of Alcohol on Your Skin and Aging Process
Table of Contents
Many of the skin and health issues in the world today are a result of lifestyle choices. They occur because of certain habits we enjoy or prefer, not paying much attention to the harmful effect they have.
Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol consumption is one of the things people do to relax or enjoy the moment. It can, however, cause you to age faster. Learn how drinking can harm your skin and encourage premature aging.
Alcohol and Premature Aging
People spent a lot of money these days – more than ever – to look good and young. It’s the reason billions of dollars are spent on anti-aging products and cosmetic procedures every year.
But you aren’t going to benefit much from beauty products if you drink alcohol regularly. We provide some reasons here why regular alcohol consumption can make you look older.
Collagen destruction
By now you probably know a lot about how collagen is vital to the skin health and youthful appearance. Alcohol can ensure you have less of it, thereby making you look older.
People typically see a progressive drop of collagen levels, which is an important structural protein as we age. Drinking ensures you lose collagen faster. It depletes vitamin A in your body.
Accelerated facial aging
It’s often easy to tell people who drink by their facial appearance. Alcohol lowers oxygen levels and causes your skin to lose its moisture. This doesn’t help the normal transport of vitamin C transport to the dermis or collagen synthesis. It can also lead to easy bruising.
Being a vasodilator, alcohol causes your blood vessels to widen thereby increasing the blood flow to your face. This leads to redness and puffiness which, over time, can result in damaged capillaries and blotched red spider veins.
Hangovers have a great impact on your skin with age. Leading to a loss of skin elasticity, wider blood vessels, fine lines, sagging jowls, and wrinkles will start to appear.
Toxin damage
Your liver helps to get rid of substances that can harm you. Excessive drinking burdens the liver, which tries to detoxify the alcohol from your body. This can give room to other toxins in your skin to do the damage.
Hair loss
Alcohol can contribute to excessive hair shedding, which can be another sign of premature aging. This is due to how it dehydrates you. As a result, your hair becomes brittle and dull.
What’s more? Drinking can make the amount of zinc in your body to decline. A deficiency of this mineral is another cause of hair loss.
Researchers have shown that alcohol consumption can indeed make you age faster. In one large study that appeared in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, excessive drinking was found to increase the risk of having earlobe creases and arcus corneae (a disorder related to cholesterol deposits in the eyes), which are associated to older age.
Alcohol can have undesirable effects on your skin in other ways too. Experts believe it can increase your risk of having cancer, including melanoma.
Watch What You Drink
We feel it may be relevant to mention that all drinks are not the same. Some drinks are stronger and more damaging than others. The measure you use for beer should be different from that you use for vodka or wine in determining what is moderate alcohol consumption.
Reducing your alcohol intake is one of the best things you can do to combat premature aging. For instance, National Rosacea Society researchers reported in a study that majority (about 90 percent) of rosacea patients who abstained from alcohol drinking had fewer flare-ups.
Women Beware
Drinking poses a risk to every drinker, regardless of gender. But women are at greater risk. They have a weaker defense against alcohol and can lose collagen consumption more rapidly.
Low amounts can impact women quite differently to men. You should be especially careful if you have a skin condition such as psoriasis. Alcohol dehydrates women more and just a drink may be enough to cause flare-ups.
In addition, you should be more careful if you are of Asian descent, especially from Northeast Asia. It has been observed that up to 4 in every 10 northeastern Asians lack an enzyme that helps the liver deal with alcohol.
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