How you can enjoy wine as you age. Just half a glass gave me a hangover, palpitations and anxiety. I didn’t want to go sober – then experts told me the tweaks that mean I can still enjoy a drink, says HELENA NICKLIN

As a mum of two young children, wine o’clock used to feel harmless to me.

In fact, I’d go as far as saying it felt like it was doing me good.

I’d found motherhood quite a struggle, so sharing notes (and vino) with other new mums kept me going. We all bonded over a bottle or two, and had quite a nice time.

As for hangovers, for a very long time I got away with it. While most other women my age were lamenting how alcohol stole their sleep, gave them palpitations and ramped up their anxiety, I simply felt a bit tired. I suspect this was helped by the fact that, having worked in the wine industry for 23 years and been a drinks critic for 16 of those, I understood my tolerance levels well.

However, as soon as I hit 47 – by which time my children were 11 and 13 – it was like a switch had been flicked. My heart would beat fast after a single glass of wine (especially red) and I’d feel pretty drunk after just half a glass at certain times of the month.

Hangovers were suddenly less about headaches and nausea and more crippling anxiety – not to mention self-loathing. I also needed to eat more junk food the next day.

But why this sudden shift?

It was only when I started speaking to friends and colleagues of a similar age that the penny dropped. I asked a question on Instagram about who else was feeling this – and what might help if you weren’t ready to give up booze entirely – and was blown away by the response.

Over hundreds of messages, women told me of their experiences of declining tolerance, terrible sleep and anxiety.

The common denominator was undeniable. We were all in our 40s – and therefore in perimenopause. We had all experienced recent changes in the way our bodies coped with alcohol.

While some women could react to such changes by just quitting booze, that wasn’t an option for me unless I also wanted to find a new career. So I resolved to find out exactly why perimenopause was having this impact – and what I could do to mitigate it.

Like so many women in their 40s, I was never taught about perimenopause, the decade-or-so long hormonal rollercoaster that precedes menopause.

Finally, it’s become a hot topic for discussion, with side-effects from memory issues to mood swings becoming well-known. Yet the effect these hormonal changes have on our ability to imbibe is still little understood.

What makes this all the more ironic is that it’s at this stage of life – coinciding with the delights of teenage children, ageing parents, demanding careers and financial strain – that many women find themselves reaching for a drink more than ever.

At any age, women have a lesser tolerance for alcohol than men because our bodies tend to carry less water due to having more fat and less muscle, which means more alcohol reaches our bloodstream.

We also produce less alcohol dehydrogenase – the enzyme that starts breaking down the booze in our livers – which leads to higher blood alcohol concentration and slower flushing through our system. Given that during perimenopause, as progesterone levels drop, women lose muscle, gain fat and produce less of this anti-alcohol enzyme, negative symptoms from drinking are exacerbated.

‘Alcohol is a major trigger for night sweats, palpitations and hot flushes, which then disrupt sleep and poor sleep worsens everything: mood, brain fog, resilience and coping,’ explains menopause specialist Jessica Barac.

She adds: ‘For many women, anxiety and depression can also show up for the first time in perimenopause too, which will be magnified by having a drink.’

Professor David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacologist, warns that the risks of women developing liver disease, brain shrinkage and breast cancer as a result of drinking also increase with age due to our reduced abilities to process alcohol.

Yet while medical evidence shows the best thing women can do for our health in midlife is to quit alcohol entirely, many of us are not ready to take that leap yet.

The next day’s ‘hangxiety’ might have me vowing to go teetotal, but as a drinks writer, that was always going to be unrealistic. Last year I estimate I tasted at least 4,000 wines between tastings, trips abroad, producer dinners and samples landing on the doorstep. And while I spit when tasting professionally, some alcohol will always go in.

Then of course there’s the, ahem, occasional bottle I actually drink for pleasure. It all adds up.

The good news is there are ways to adapt our drinking to our new hormonal landscape. Smarter choices and more self-care mean I can still enjoy a glass on my terms, without paying a high price the next day.

Now 48, I go to fewer dinner or lunch events, as they are always geared towards swallowing rather than spitting out the wine, and am moving more into the non-alcoholic drinks space, which is luckily a very exciting category. I’ve also identified a few tips to soften the effects of alcohol, and minimise my hangovers.

Here’s some expert advice on recommended lifestyle changes if you still want to enjoy some Pinot during perimenopause…

Put drinks in a diary

First, you are going to have to cut back, so apply ‘Damp January’ principles all year round. Avoid solo drinking, and instead take the view that if your drink is not diarised – ie a dinner out, or a birthday – it’s not happening.

When drinking, ‘zebra stripe’ by alternating each boozy drink with a non-alcoholic one and never drink on an empty stomach.

Address your diet 

Your recovery time after drinking will be quicker if your baseline health is good. Prioritise a Mediterranean diet, with meals containing protein, leafy greens, healthy fats and lots of fibre, which slow alcohol absorption.

Prioritising nutrients that support the liver, gut, nervous system, sleep, muscle, mood and bone health is also crucial.

Make sure you always stay well hydrated, and consume electrolytes such as sodium, potassium and magnesium before drinking.

Supplements have a key role in boosting your health, and when it comes to drinking, folate (otherwise known as Vitamin B12 or B9) is key, as low folate intake combined with alcohol has been linked to a higher breast cancer risk. You should also consider a probiotic, as alcohol can exacerbate gut inflammation, leading to bloating and IBS-like symptoms.

Tackling hangovers

Even though hormonal changes and the physiological effects caused by alcohol can’t be entirely prevented by taking a remedy, some products can accelerate detox pathways.

New products such as DrinkDefendly and WillPowders combine protective nutrients with natural substances such as milk thistle and vine leaf, which claim to break down acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical produced as alcohol breaks down in the liver, and soften nausea and headaches.

PrePear’s Korean Shingo pear juice promises the same thanks to a special enzyme.

I’ve tested all three – drinking the pear juice before alcohol, or for the supplements, taking two or three capsules before and after drinking – and my head is clearer the next day. My sleep is still a mess, but I function better and my system feels flushed out. For me, such products are now a vital part of any drinking occasion.