Grey Area Drinking and How Alcohol Affects Us asWe Age

As a Grey Area Drinking Coach and best-selling author of Beyond Booze, I’ve supported thousands of women to successfully change their relationship with alcohol. One common pattern I see, especially among women in their 40s and 50s, is that their body can no longer metabolise alcohol like it did in their 20s. Suddenly, alcohol starts to feel different - causing sleep disturbances, anxiety, weight gain, memory loss, low mood, and more.

If you’ve felt this shift, you’re not alone. And understanding why it happens is the first empowering step towards making change.

What Exactly is Grey Area Drinking?

Think about alcohol use on a scale of 1 to 10.

• 1: Rarely drinks, rarely thinks about drinking.

• 10: Physically dependent on alcohol, requires medical support to stop.

Grey Area Drinking falls somewhere in the middle - and it's incredibly common, especially among women. Research suggests this style of drinking in women has increased by over 80% in the past 30 years.

Signs you may be a Grey Area Drinker:

• You make ‘rules’ about your drinking - when, how much, what type - but often break them, leading to shame and guilt.

• You secretly worry about your drinking but hide it well from others.

• "One glass" often turns into many.

• You notice alcohol impacts your energy, sleep, confidence, and mood - but struggle to stick to taking breaks.

• Alcohol becomes your solution to stress, loneliness, frustration, or sadness - and you don't have many other tools in your toolkit.

Sound familiar? It did for me too - and recognising these signs helped me transform my life.

Here’s why alcohol starts hitting differently as we age, and why changing your relationship with it might be the best gift you ever give yourself.

Five Ways Alcohol Impacts Us More After 40

1. Declining ALDH Enzyme Levels

As we age, our levels of ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) - the enzyme that breaks down alcohol - decline. This means alcohol isn’t metabolised as efficiently, allowing more of it to enter our bloodstream.

What it looks like:

• Worse hangovers, even after just one or two drinks.

• Heightened negative effects like poor digestion, irritability, and fogginess.

The stats:
Women naturally produce less ALDH than men - and it declines further with age. This is one reason why women are more vulnerable to alcohol-related health risks.

2. Hormonal Fluctuations Intensify Alcohol’s Effects

During perimenopause, fluctuating estrogen levels make us even more sensitive to alcohol. In the first two weeks of your cycle (when estrogen is higher), alcohol will hit you harder and take longer to clear from your system.

Ever noticed you can handle a glass of wine one week but feel terrible after the same amount the next? Hormones are to blame.

Knowing where you are in your cycle - and teaching this to our daughters - empowers us to make better choices and understand our bodies.

3. Alcohol Disrupts Sleep

Many women in midlife notice that sleep becomes more elusive - and alcohol makes it worse.

The science:

• Alcohol suppresses REM sleep - the deep, restorative phase.

• It causes early morning wakeups, usually around 2-3 am.

The next-day effect:
Poor sleep leads to sugar cravings, low mood, and poor decision-making. Even 1-2 drinks can significantly disrupt your sleep quality, leaving you feeling exhausted and moody the next day.

4. Alcohol Increases Anxiety

Alcohol acts like a double-edged sword. It sedates you at first, but as it leaves your system, it spikes cortisol (your stress hormone), leaving you more anxious than before.

The vicious cycle:

• We drink to feel better.

• We wake up feeling worse - anxious, overthinking, and flat.

The research:
Studies show alcohol use is directly linked to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms in women - especially during hormonal transition periods like perimenopause.

5. Alcohol and Long-Term Health Risks

Alcohol might be marketed as a glamorous, harmless “reward,” but it’s classified as a Group 1 carcinogen - the same category as tobacco.

It’s directly linked to seven types of cancer, including breast cancer.
The World Health Organization states: There is no safe level of alcohol consumption.

Key reminder:

• You don't need to drink excessively to be at risk.

• Even moderate drinking carries health risks, especially as we age and metabolise alcohol less efficiently.

How to Start Changing Your Drinking

After quitting drinking myself in 2019 and coaching over 10,000 women since, here are my top suggestions:

1. Track Your Drinking
Be honest. A glass of wine at home often equals 2–3 standard drinks, not one.

2. Take a 30-Day Break
Give yourself 30 days without alcohol to gather real data. Notice your sleep, mood, energy, weight, and stress levels.

3. Identify Your Triggers
Is it a specific time of day, friend, event, or emotion that triggers you to drink? Awareness is the first step to change.

4. Create New Rituals
Pour a beautiful alcohol-free drink into your favourite glass at 5 pm. Ritual matters. Find joy in alternatives.

5. Tap into Support and Resources
You don’t have to do this alone.

• Read my book Beyond Booze for inspiration and guidance: Beyond Booze

• Join my free Facebook group, The Women’s Wellbeing Collective: Join here

• Explore resources at www.sarahrusbatch.com

Remember, you don’t have to label yourself an “alcoholic” to realise alcohol is no longer serving you.

Choosing to rethink your drinking is an act of radical self-care, self-respect, and leadership - for yourself and for the generations of women who follow.