If your life is anything like my own there was a time when you could drink all night, eat a kebab, get thirty minutes sleep then wake up feeling like nothing had happened.
Now though, ever since I began the startlingly short journey out of my twenties, my hangovers have become unbearable, so much so that if I get drunk I’m basically a useless blob of human coloured flesh for close to 48 hours.
But what’s caused my transformation from alcohol powered terminator to a rusted old wreck who breaks out in a cold sweat at just the mention of the word tequila?
Well apparently it’s all to do with my age and I’ve got some bad news for you, it happens to all of us.
According to Business Insider it’s because as your body get’s older is ability to break down alcohol becomes less efficient. This leaves a nasty chemical called acetaldehyde in your body and this is the nasty stuff in alcohol that leaves you feeling so bad in the morning.
Acetaldehyde causes nausea, headaches and dizziness and is, rather worryingly, a probable carcinogen.
The news gets worse for us old folks though. As you get older you may have noticed that you don’t grow taller anymore, instead you get wider as you gain body fat.
And unfortunately despite the old wives tale that larger people can handle their drinks more fat means less space for the alcohol to diffuse as the fat can’t absorb it.
The older you get as well the less water there is sloshing about in your body, meaning that when you drink the alcohol still in your system the next day is far more concentrated than it would be normally.
Finally, and perhaps most depressingly, as you get older you just have more general stress which puts pressure on your body regardless of alcohol. Told you it was depressing.
At least when you get older though you always have an excuse to stop drinking, like a squash game or shopping for falafel. God being old is boring.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.