PeriMenopause & Alcohol:Why Wine & I are no longer BFF's😩🍷

Perimenopause + Alcohol = A New Kind of Hangover

Ok ladies don't get mad at me but this topic comes up a lot and I just had to address it, I don't like it any more than you do ;) Let’s be honest — what used to feel like a harmless glass of wine might now feel like a three-day recovery mission. Welcome to peri-menopause, where hormones are shifting and your wine tolerance may be, well... on a break.

☠The liver is the only way for us to get rid of alcohol so if it is tied up doing this it can’t keep up with its other important jobs like detoxing, managing blood sugar, helping digestion, metabolism and blood clotting.

🌺Our hormonal system is involved in everything. It impacts our nervous system and how we manage stress, our immune system, our moods and psychological issues, reproductive issues, bone health and thyroid problems. Heavy alcohol use in the long term causes problems in every one of these processes. People who drink even low amounts of alcohol produce more cortisol (our stress hormone) and end up feeling more stressed and anxious when not drinking.

Wait what?! The thing we are using to decompress is making us feel worse? So Not cool!

🍷So what’s actually happening?

As estrogen and progesterone start to fluctuate in peri-menopause, your body doesn’t process alcohol the way it used to—and the effects can feel a lot stronger.

• Your body’s alcohol metabolism slows down, so that one drink hits like three.

• Weight gain: your body is so focused on metabolizing alcohol (its a toxin in which your body wants to rid of it 1st) that other metabolic processes such as fat oxidation take a back seat to alcohol metabolism.

• Hot flashes & night sweats may worsen after drinking.

• Your sleep? Yeah, that 2am wake-up after rosé is very real.

• Blood sugar swings + wine = “Why did I eat all the snacks after 9pm?”

👉Since I don't like to give up on things I love....

💡 What to do?

• Sip smart: 1 drink max, and not every night.....I try 😁

• Pair it with food — protein is your BFF. 🍷+🧀.. 😉

• Choose lower sugar options to help blood sugar control and cravings 🚫

• Hydrate like a queen. 🥤

• Most importantly: listen to your body — it’s wiser than ever. ❤

Everything in moderation is a good motto but difficult to follow if you’re among the women who now find themselves intolerant to alcohol. Just like everything in life, there is no one size fits all approach. We all need to consider our individual experiences when evaluating whether alcohol is taking more than it’s giving to us.

The friendship with alcohol doesn't have to be over...just treat it a lil differently 🫶