Here's Exactly What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Alcohol During the Day

Beth Ann Mayer

Thu, August 15, 2024 at 6:25 PM UTC

7 min read

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We often consider drinking alcohol to be an after-hours affair—a cocktail with colleagues at happy hour or a glass of vino during a dinner date. However, beachside frosés, beers at summer barbecues and fall football tailgates and year-round Sex and the City-style bottomless brunches prove there's no official timeframe for consuming alcohol.

While you may consume the same alcoholic beverages during the day that you do at night, you may realize that drinking before dark feels different. You may feel like you feel intoxicated sooner and have worse hangovers.

Is it just you, or does day drinking hit differently? We buzzed experts. TL;DR: It's not just you. Specialists spilled on what happens to the body when you drink alcohol during the day and whether it's possible to prevent a hangover.

What Happens When You Day Drink?

While you may get drunk sooner and experience more severe hangovers, there isn't a difference in the basic physiology of day drinking versus night drinking. "Alcohol creates a lot of dysfunction in the body," says Dr. David Streem, MD, a doctor at Cleveland Clinic.

And in case you didn't know, alcohol works quickly. "When alcohol is consumed, it is absorbed into the bloodstream and rapidly reaches the brain," says Dr. Tony M. Issac, MD, an addiction psychiatrist with Hackensack Meridian Health.

It mainly acts on the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitor that helps to control the part of the central nervous system that is linked to anxiety and stress. "In the 'buzz' state, alcohol initially can produce euphoric feelings and lowered inhibitions by increasing dopamine levels," Dr. Issac says.

However, it's not all "good vibes only." Dr. Issac warns that this effect also impacts your cognitive and motor abilities. "As alcohol consumption increases, alcohol disrupts the balance of neurotransmitters, which leads to further impairment in memory, coordination and judgment," Dr. Issac says. "More severe alcohol intoxication impairs the central nervous system further, which slows brain function and can potentially lead to unconsciousness."

Sometimes, people will black out, causing them to forget everything that happened beyond a certain point. "The hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for coding new memories, gets so impaired it doesn’t work," Dr. Streem says. "During this time, the person is awake, but later, they have no memory of their actions/events of that period. This usually happens when a blood alcohol level is about twice the legal limit, [about] 0.16% or so."

Not remembering what you did while drinking may be stressful in the short term. However, it may have long-term effects, too.

"The hippocampus is a part of the brain that slowly deteriorates in Alzheimer’s Disease as well as other serious brain diseases," Dr. Streem says. "We don’t know how much permanent damage is done to the hippocampus when people drink enough to black out, but it’s obvious to say—but perhaps should still be said—that it doesn’t do the brain any good."

OK—but Why Do I Feel Drunker During The Day?

Here are a few reasons why you might feel you get drunk faster during the day compared to nighttime.

1. Duration

Night drinking is often limited to a specific, shorter time frame—a one-hour happy hour or 90-minute seating for dinner. Day drinking can be more open-ended. Want to linger on the beach for one more cocktail or skip the game and keep tailgating? You won't have a server hovering over you, asking if you're ready for the check.

"Places like pool parties, festivals or outdoor events allow continuous drinking with fewer breaks," says Dr. Jason Kellogg, MD, the medical director at Hotel California by the Sea.

Longer timeframes for drinking alcohol can lead to higher consumption and blood alcohol levels, Dr. Issac explains. So, you don't just feel drunker after a day of drinking—you are drunker.

2. Eating patterns

Is that mimosa at brunch the first thing you've consumed all day? If your answer is yes, it could contribute to you feeling intoxicated more quickly than you usually would if you had a bubbly cocktail at night.

"Day drinking might coincide with eating patterns and metabolic rates that differ from those in the evening, which can potentially affect alcohol absorption and metabolism," Dr. Issac says. "Eating before or while drinking can slow alcohol absorption and mitigate some of its effects."

3. Dehydration

Day drinking can happen in any setting, but it can occur outside in hotter weather, either during the summer in the U.S. or as part of a tropical winter getaway. Attempting to quench your thirst with alcohol has the opposite effect.

"Hot weather can cause dehydration, regardless of alcohol consumption," Dr. Kellogg says. "Since alcohol is a diuretic, it can further exacerbate this dehydration."

Dr. Kellogg says diuretics make you pee more, so you lose fluids that help protect the body from dehydration. "This can result in headaches, dizziness and a feeling of lethargy," Dr. Kellogg says. "Drinking during the day, especially without adequate water intake, can exacerbate these effects and leave you feeling worse as the day progresses."

One thing that's important to note: While heat can increase dehydration chances, day drinking—or drinking at all—in any weather can lead to dehydration.

4. Temperature changes

Hot areas don't just make you more prone to dehydration. Going from hot to cold places can also affect the body, and alcohol doesn't help.

"One factor that can play a role is consuming alcohol while in a hot tub, jacuzzi or sauna or drinking outside on a very hot day in which the heat causes blood to pool in our extremities while the blood alcohol level rises," Dr. Streem says. "Then, when the person leaves the hot tub or goes into a cooler place, the alcohol-saturated blood rapidly returns to the central core and the brain."

What Happens After Day Drinking

So, what happens to your body after day drinking? Here are some things to look out for.

1. Worse hangovers

Are hangovers worse during the day? They can be. "Hangovers can start earlier when day drinking because your body starts metabolizing alcohol while you're still awake," Dr. Kellogg explains. "In combination with dehydration and environmental factors, this can lead to an earlier onset of hangover symptoms."

However, the hangovers don't have to be worse (or exist at all). Dr. Issac says some hangover-prevention strategies include:

Sipping water with alcohol to minimize dehydration
Eating a substantial meal before and/or while drinking alcohol to reduce absorption
Pacing yourself to avoid excess consumption
Getting plenty of rest (which can be iffy – stay tuned)

2. Hang-xiety

The word hang-xiety, while not clinical, is used to describe the anxiety you feel when you're hungover. Once again, GABA is in play. "Heavy drinking rapidly depletes GABA, potentially increasing feelings of tension and anxiety," Dr. Kellogg says. "The temporary surge in GABA and dopamine from binge drinking quickly fades, leading to rebound anxiety. The onset of hangover symptoms, along with depleted GABA levels, are major factors contributing to "hang-xiety."

3. Poor sleep

Alcohol can make you feel tired, but it's not great for sleep. "It’s usually sedating in most people, but after a few hours, it can cause people to wake up," Dr. Streem says. "Often, they have trouble getting back to sleep. So, ultimately, people who drink too much often become sleep deprived."

However, "Some argue that stopping drinking three to four hours before bed can mitigate these effects," Dr. Kellogg says. "This can be beneficial if your body is able to metabolize the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed before you go to sleep. Your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol depends on how much you've been drinking."

So, might day drinking be "better" for sleep than night drinking? There are too many factors to say for sure.

"If you're not significantly impaired by the time you lie down but still slightly impaired, you’re less likely to achieve restful sleep," Dr. Kellogg says. "Individual results vary depending on the surrounding circumstances."

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Sources

Dr. David Streem, MD, of Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Tony M. Issac, MD, an addiction psychiatrist with Hackensack Meridian Health
Dr. Jason Kellogg, MD, the medical director at Hotel California by the Sea.

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