Do you think the sentence ‘if you drink in your 20s your body will show you the bill in your 30s’ is a myth or is there an accumulative effect of drinking and partying in teenage years and our 20s? Do you notice any negative consequences of night out in your early years now?
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Depends. If you drink and party and gain a bunch of weight in your 20s in the process, which a lot of people do, then you’re gonna be fatter in your 30s as it gets tougher and tougher to do anything about it.
If you party but also exercise and stay fit and such, then no, I don’t think it’s very true.
Both men and women have to worry about that, but imo it’s a bigger issue for women since they simply can eat far fewer calories than young men, so a lot of drinking packs on pounds faster. Men can easily drink themselves out of shape too, but it’s easier to find space for beer out of a 3800 calories diet than a 2400 one.
Obviously if you go right down the road I to addiction then yes, the deeper effects can matter.
This is primarily for alcohol, btw, can’t speak to partying with like hard drugs or whatever.
Which is all a way of saying… exercise and stay in shape when you’re young and your young body can get away with a whole hell of a lot of abuse.
Not really.
I partied hard in my 20s and I’m relatively OK now.
I would counter this by saying you must take your health seriously in your 30s as recovery time slows down.
Eat clean, exercise, stay hydrated, prioritise sleep etc.
No effect. But I kept the drinking primarily to one night every other weekend. Maintaining a clean diet and especially regular exercise forgives most sins.
Also, drink wine, and you can avoid some of those bills. Most of our bodies can tolerate crushed grapes better than beer or liquor.
I’ve been a drinker and partier since my twenties at least. Take care of your body and you’ll be fine. Goofy ass sayings are goofy ass sayings.
I get the feeling that a lot of people just never experience alcohol in moderation and a lot of the conventional wisdom reflects that. Guys on here talk like you can either be sober or chugging a liter of vodka.
I don’t have any health effects from drinking to my knowledge. But to me “going out and partying” means having like four drinks at a social thing. Maybe six if it’s a longer night?
Here’s what I will say: never touch cocaine. You can have health effects from that very quickly, and I do see that in people even in their early 30s. And even if you don’t, it will bring the worst kind of scumbags into your life (or you will become one yourself without necessarily noticing). I’ve never encountered a scene or person where the presence of cocaine did anything but make things worse. It damages your heart muscle every time you use it and it turns people into assholes.
No exaggeration, I am out of commission for 24 hours after binge drinking. Not only that, I wake up the next day with intense anxiety now, always. Partying and drinking have just become somewhat of a hindrance in my life so I’ve mostly cut it out, not alcoholism, sobriety or anything of that nature, I have the ability to consume in moderation and make the conscious choice not to binge drink. So I dont. My weed intake is out of control, however, and unmanageable. It’s weird how we all have our own things we get addicted to.
I’d say it depends how hard you party and how deep into your 20’s you do it.
Drinking and doing hard drugs 4+ nights a week, eating like shit and never working out until your 29? Yeah you’re pretty much fucked. With hard work, you can recover, but never undo the damage completely.
Drinking moderately and smoking some weed 1 or 2 nights a week, eat ok-ish and occasionally exercising until your mid-twenties? Yeah you can mitigate the damage well, but it’s still going to take time to get your health fully on track.
1 or 2 drinks every couple of weeks, whilst sleeping well, routinely doing cardio/lifting and eating clean? You’ll be fine, and be in better shape than 90% of the population.
Source: I drank twice a week pretty hard into my mid twenties, kept a bad sleep schedule, ate like shit on the weekends, lifted 3-4 times a week, didn’t do drugs, and I was still well on my way to being a fatty with high stress and no energy. It wasn’t until I was late twenties until I felt like I was back “on track” with my health:
https://imgur.com/a/4DhHbKV
I’ve never been a heavy drinker or drug user. But yes I can say all the people who partied a lot in their 20 that I still keep up with are absolutely wrecked. They are fat, economically behind, and still addicts, or addict adjacent lifestyles. I stayed in the gym and feel and look 10 years younger than most of them. They don’t understand that you really need to cut it off at some point.
I’m 36 and drink a few beers every single day of the year, a mild alcoholic yet I’m lean wirey muscle head to toe. I never binge drink. That would take a much greater toll. The biggest factors are probably diet, physical activity, and stress levels.
Definitely not a myth. The thing is, you’ll find that a lot of the conditions typically associated with aging are actually associated with alcohol consumption. Fortunately, not all damage is irreversible.
I’d highly recommend checking out this podcast by a Stanford Neuroscientist who goes through all the details of what happens in the body when you consume alcohol, short-term and long-term. Definitely made me cut way back and I notice it. Even a single drink makes a noticeable difference in my workout performances the next day.
What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain, and Health
If you’re sedentary you’ll feel it in your 30’s and beyond. Doesn’t matter what flavor of naughty fun you used to have, sedentary life brings aches/pains regardless.
you got to slow down as you get older
when I was in my teens and 20s I could drink an entire 6 pack, get up the next day and be fine
40 years later, I shudder at what I’d feel like if I did that AND I know trying to maintain something like that over many years is a fucking stupid thing to do
Shows up well in your late forties so you got some years yet. Enjoy them lol
I don’t drink like that often anymore but I find that so far by body handles it better than I thought it would. I do try to be pretty healthy the rest of the time though
The crazy shit you do in your 20’s and 30’s comes back to haunt you in your 50’s and 60’s.
I started smoking weed and drinking at around 16 off and on at parties and with friends on the weekends. I went to raves and did a lot of ecstasy, acid, shrooms, etc. for a couple of years as well during that time. That phase ended, but then started back up again with clubbing almost every weekend for a few years after I turned 21. Then, it eventually led to the occasional house party and get togethers, where i would only have a few drinks.
I recently hit 40, and all I can say is I am more active and feel healthier and better than I ever have. I do a lot of bouldering, snowboarding, and some mild hiking. I want to get into mountain biking soon. I have a job that keeps me on my feet for most of the day. I still do smoke weed, but when I drink, I only have a couple of beers. I no longer drink hard alcohol like I used to because I just don’t like the way it makes me feel anymore. I usually just get really tired and want to leave if I drink too much.
So I would say the answer is no, but I would also say it depends on your lifestyle habits. Do you stay active, or do you binge out on the couch. Are you fit, or are you obese? If you don’t work out and stay active, I would say that, yes, all of those things will probably affect you later on in life. It’s not too late to make lifestyle changes in your 30’s.
It’s definitely true. I barely drank or smoked in my 20s and I still barely do. I may be fat but I am very healthy with a healthy heart rate and blood pressure and healthy cholesterol and V02.
Anytime I see a post like this I always have to let everyone know about the r/stopdrinking subreddit, one of the best communities on Reddit.
Whether you’re dealing with someone with an alcohol issue or struggling with your own, it’s a great community to be a part of.
I was an exceptionally heavy drinker in my 20s (army) so by the time I hit my thirties I’d started to slow a little. I still drink more than I should do really, but I probably drink about 30% of what I used to do.
Apart from any risks to the liver, I wouldn’t expect any long term issues.
At some point you’re going to want to slow down though, those hangovers that I never used to get, can be pretty hard hitting. I know people who are hungover for 2+ days after a heavy session now.
Depends on how much partying. I binge drank every Friday and Saturday through my entire 20s and 30s then quit at 43. According to my doctor I don’t have any permanent damage. I did accumulate 30 extra pounds, which fell off once I quit.
It’s a myth.
Me not respecting my overall health (mental, physical, diet, etc.) is what gave me almost all of my problems in my 30’s. Shit, I went and drank like 3 nights in a row last month when I went to Miami and I was fine, because I drank responsibly like an adult.
You can get your fitness back as mentioned above however health problems often come later, like complications from scared liver. Unless addictions acquired, should be okay in your 30s, afterwards it all does depend n the damage done and what health events come along…
If you’re doing large amounts of heavy drugs maybe.
Just keep fit to offset the party.
All the booze and drugs (mostly coke) of my twenties showed up in my mid forties: the bad memory of a person in their sixties.
You can get away with a LOT in your teens and 20s and may not look or feel that different to your peers taking care of themselves. In your 30s and 40s is when it becomes increasingly apparent who has smart systems in place
The big hitters:
-Sleep
-Resistance training
-High protein unprocessed diet
-Avoid excessive drinking + cigarette
It’s never too late to start improving your health. Don’t beat yourself up about the past
It won’t necessarily be your thirties, but depending on how hard you partied it will affect you eventually. I was lucky to have stopped drinking heavily and partying before I turned 21, if I had kept drinking the way I did I would’ve been dead by now.
What kind of drinking are you talking about OP? A beer or wine every now and then on the weekends? Or getting blackout drunk several nights a week for the duration of your 20s? Because one will almost certainly fuck you up, and other is fairly normal and healthy.
Never heard that before…
i partied pretty hard in my 20s and early 30s. i’m not totally sure if its the cause but I think i have more gut issues/acid reflux now due to all the drinking i did. It’s not as bad as it was when i was actively drinking every day but it’s still a minor issue here and there.
i also gained a decent amount of weight, due to alcohol and the lifestyle that surrounds it, but i’ve been doing my best to stay fit and healthy these days, which has shed some of those pounds
outside of that I’m mostly fine (i turn 40 in a month). I think i’m healthier than I’ve ever been and have way better habits now.
i think most of the effects have been social and emotional tbh. most of my adult friends that I’ve made were bar friends that I don’t really talk to anymore. most women i’ve dated/hooked up with were women I met at the bar/parties. most of that’s dried up. i had to relearn how to interact with people without the aid of liquid courage.
Also, being a drunk idiot has permanently damaged some of my relationships, doing and saying dumb shit while drunk has in some cases had a lasting if not permanent effect on certain relationships.
That probably depends on the rest of the lifestyle in the 20s.. are you just drinking? Do you exercise? Drink water? Sleep?.. if the entire lifestyle is trash, then it will probably start to show…. I drank a good bit in my 20s, but I stayed very active, stayed hydrated and got decent sleep for the most part. I think I look younger than most of people my age I grew up with
The trick is to keep the tab running. Then the bill never arrives 😉
Partied hard in my early 20s. Struggled with addiction. I have mental health issues now.
I’m 31, don’t really party anymore. Whenever I go out I get up to 4 drinks and that’s it. Doing all-nighters like in my 20s is not an option anymore. Would I do it? No. Could I do it? Probably?
I get a 2 day hangover if I drink enough to get a buzz..I’m 39.. for awhile when I was younger I’d drink an 18 pack every night and be fine in the morning..not anymore
It’s probably 90% genetic. I’m 50 and have been drinking too much since I was 20. I had to cut back on smoking weed about 10 years ago. And am maybe, just maybe, getting to the point where I think I need to cut back on the alcohol. I feel like I’m in better shape, physical, mental, emotional, than the vast majority of my 50ish peers. Friends have told me that “I’m a nice specimen.” I’d say you should listen to your body and stay active. Most people can’t get away with as hard for as long.
It’s a myth. Really Heavy drinker in my late teens and 20s. Played Rugby and stayed fairly fit the entire time. 40 now. And have aches and pains. Playing sports, injuries a few car accidents. But health wise I’m perfectly healthy and fit. Still work out and run.
I stopped the hard partying around 25, started again in late 30’s once the kids got older. The two day hangover is only a thing if I keep going after midnight.
And always drink shit tons of water before crashing, and I generally am ok by afternoon day after, carry on with yardwork, etc.
I partied pretty hard in my 20s and I’m doing okay but definitely came in with some extra weight that I had to work to get off, but you definitely need to be careful. Going out drinking every other night in your 20s is one thing, continuing that into your 30s does become a problem.
I believe it a little yes. Haven’t been drunk since I was 28, now 42
In your 30s, no. Beyond, yes, especially if you continue drinking frequently. I’m 10 lbs heavier than I was in my twenties. I slowed my drinking in my ’30s, even more so in my ’40s and now I’ll maybe have a drink or two a year. My buddies from that time frame are now 30 to 40 lb heavier. By no coincidence they’re still frequent drinkers.
Apart from my rheumatoid hands, I’m in good health.
My 18-25 years were spent in clubs, parties and generally in a drink or drug fuelled state. I went haaaaaard and didn’t stop until I met my now wife. Quite literally saved my life.
I have friends from the time who are a real mess and one who didn’t make it.
I count myself lucky, all things considered
I partied a lot in my late teens, 20s, and early 30s.
It’s slowed to a crawl as I approach 40, and I’m completely fine. I’m in good shape, look young for my age, no real aches or pains. Can’t really think of any negative consequences resulting from those years.
Not that much with me except dependence on alcohol so that sucked. I finally beat it but it was a hard, long, expensive road.
Nah.
However, my hangovers are worse… Off less.
So I kind of don’t drink much anymore.
I raged in my 20s. I really got after it. Now I have kids and a picket fence and a high credit score and all that with basically zero raging and minimal drinking even. I’m fine. Probably got lucky though
I drank alcoholically through my twenties, was drunk for possibly literally all of 29, went to rehab at 30, and turn 40 this year.
A lot of people who drink like I did die, even in their twenties. I know several who did. I’m extremely lucky but I’m in good shape. My liver recovered and I’m not too weathered looking. I think luck and genetics have a lot to play in how long you can get away with it, if you’re really problem drinking.
My ears ring constantly.