Can Alcohol Cause Wrinkles? How Drinking Can Make You Look Older

Let’s face it: many of us are afraid to get old. Everywhere you look, there are creams, serums, products, and magic elixirs that promise to help us look young. In the U.S. alone, the anti-aging market grew from $3.9 billion in 2016 to $4.9 billion in 2021. Some projections say it will reach $23 billion by 2028.

But what if we told you that there’s something incredibly simple we can do to help protect our youth? And that it doesn’t require spending any money? That’s right — eliminating or cutting back on our alcohol consumption is one of the best things we can do for our appearance. But why? Let’s talk about it!

How Alcohol Affects Our Skin

Alcohol can have serious impacts on our complexion. In fact, drinking excessively is known to cause redness and dry, wrinkly skin. This is because alcohol dehydrates our body, including the skin. Every time we drink, we lose fluid and nutrients that are vital for healthy-looking skin. This can make our skin look wrinkled, dull, gray, or bloated and puffy. The effects of dehydration are so pronounced that studies show a woman who has been drinking for 20 or 30 years will have significantly more wrinkles than someone the same age who hasn’t drunk at all. The drinking woman can appear 10 years older than the non-drinking woman.

Alcohol can also cause a deficiency of nutrients like vitamin A, which helps with cell regeneration and collagen production — both of which are essential to youthful skin. Over time, this deficiency can cause our skin to lose all elasticity and become wrinkled.

Furthermore, alcohol is a vasodilator; it expands blood vessels. Drinking alcohol on a regular basis leads to enlarged blood vessels in the face. Over time, this can lead to a loss of skin tone and a permanent red color. We also might notice the formation of spider veins — damaged, visible blood vessels just beneath our skin that are red, blue, or purple in color.

It’s also worth noting that drinking alcohol can also increase our risk of developing skin conditions, such as psoriasis, rosacea, or eczema. If we already have these conditions, consuming alcohol can make symptoms even worse.

Other Ways Alcohol Makes Us Look Older

Alcohol’s effect on our skin is only one of the ways it causes us to look older. Here are a few more ways alcohol affects our appearance:

Furthermore, while our liver processes most of the alcohol we drink, some of it leaves our body through our urine, breath, and sweat. This can result in an unpleasant odor. Even one night of drinking can lead to changes in smell, but the more we drink, the more likely we’re to emit an unpleasant odor that is not typical for a young and healthy person.

Research Confirms It: Alcohol Accelerates Cellular Aging

While a lot of these changes can be seen outwardly, it’s worth noting that research has found that drinking alcohol can accelerate the aging process at a biological level. In fact, the more we drink, the greater our chances of damaging cells at a biological level, causing them to age prematurely.

One study in particular showed that heavy drinkers and those with alcohol use disorder were significantly more likely to have short telomeres — an essential part of our chromosomes linked to aging and overall health. This is significant because it further validates the changes we see occur on the surface in people who regularly consume alcohol.

The Bottom Line

Reducing our alcohol consumption or eliminating it entirely is one of the simplest (and cheapest!) things we can do to protect our youth. Drinking alcohol can cause wrinkly, dry skin from dehydration and lead to poor sleep, weight gain, and changes in eye and hair health that cause us to look older.

It’s never too late to cut back on our alcohol consumption. Even if we’ve noticed changes in our appearance from alcohol, we may be able to reverse the effects by changing our drinking habits. Reframe can help.