I don’t know about you, but my hangovers have gotten pretty unbearable.

It’s true what they say about being invincible in your late teens. We could knock back one after the other and get up the next day feeling surprisingly OK.

But now I’m finding that it’s just not worth it anymore. Two drinks and I’m done, much to the relief of my liver and my bank account.

But how come?

Why Has Our Liver Foresaken Us?!

As you age, so does your body’s ability to fight off diseases and infections. Whereas it used to take days to get over a cold, your body might take up to a week or more to fight off the infection. It’s the onset of reality. Stress due to life commitments such as work, families, relationships and children take a toll not only on your mental health but your physical health as well.

As TIME explains, this is referred to as “immunosenescence,” or the gradual weakening of your immune system as you age. It’s not that your body doesn’t heal; in many cases, it just doesn’t heal quite as quickly.

On top of that, your liver just isn’t as great at expunging the toxins (ethanol) in alcohol out of your body anymore. Enzymes in your liver need to break down alcohol into acetaldehyde. And then another enzyme ― called aldehyde dehydrogenase ― turns acetaldehyde into a substance called acetate, which then turns into properties like carbon dioxide and water.

If you thought that was confusing to get a grasp on, imagine what it’s like for your liver as its enzyme stores decrease year by year, making it harder and slower to recover than that of your younger years.

How Do We Avoid It?

While the best cure for hangovers is to not drink at all, that just isn’t going to cut it when your best friends are egging you on at the start of the night.

A good idea is to avoid alcohol with cogeners which are compounds that occur during the process of distillation and fermentation.

Some alcohols have more congeners than others. Brown liquor such as whiskey, cognac and tequila have a high concentrate of it, whereas vodka, gin and rum hold lower stores of the stuff.

Secondly, drink more water! As you’ve probably experienced, alcohol messes with the mechanisms in your body that regulate water storage rendering you thirsty and dehydrated. Although being dehydrated doesn’t cause hangovers per se, it can intensify the already nasty experience, so make sure you drink a glass of water between drinks so you don’t get dry mouth the next morning.

Lastly – and this is advice from my personal experience – drink slowly. Too many times I’ve realised I’ve gone too far when it’s too late to redeem myself (Lord, help me to forget ).

Finish one drink, leave a time gap to see how you feel. If and ONLY if you’re feeling fine, then go ahead and order one more drink. But maybe make it the last one if you know what’s good for you!

Yalei Wang is a writer based in Melbourne.

(Lead image: Bridget Jones Diary/Universal)