Eating food and drinking coffee changes how your body uses alcohol. Food changes how your body processes alcohol but not how fast it can do it.
On the flip side, food makes the alcohol hang out in the stomach for a while. Alcohol is a depressant drug, so it makes you feel drowsy. If you think you need help to stop drinking , treatment is available. Talk with your doctor or start with one of these resources:. How long alcohol stays in your system depends on several factors.
Learn how the body gets rid of alcohol and what affects this process. Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Related Articles. Are Hangover Cures Urban Myths? Or Do Some Actually Work? The older a person is, the longer alcohol stays in the liver before it moves into the general bloodstream or is metabolized — increasing length of intoxication and risk of damage to the liver.
The amount of water in the body also goes down with age, contributing to a higher BAC. An older person is additionally more likely to be taking medication and this affects the liver as well. All of these factors mean that alcohol is processed by the body at a slower rate.
This is largely due to the fact that women tend to have a higher percentage of body fat and lower percentage of body water compared to men.
Studies have additionally shown that women have less acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, the enzyme used to metabolize alcohol in the stomach. Eating a meal and having food in the stomach prior to drinking can have a powerful influence on the absorption rate of alcohol. Food helps dilute the alcohol and slow the emptying of the stomach into the small intestine, where alcohol is rapidly absorbed. Peak BAC could be as much as 3 times higher in someone with an empty stomach than in someone who has consumed food before drinking.
Eating regular meals and having snacks while drinking can help induce enzyme activity in the liver and slow the rate at which alcohol is absorbed. Low-water fatty tissue cannot absorb alcohol to the extent that high-water muscle tissue can, meaning individuals with more body fat generally have higher BAC.
Correspondingly, an individual that is extremely muscular but of shorter stature will have a higher BAC than someone taller than them of the same composition. Certain medications can interact with alcohol and alter the metabolism, thereby affecting how the body is able to process alcohol.
Some medications slow the emptying from the stomach into the small intestine and liver, causing the alcohol to be rapidly absorbed. This results in higher BAC levels and intoxication that affects the body more quickly.
Medications that are specifically known to interact with alcohol include:. One standard drink is equal to one oz beer, 1. Understanding BAC and the rate that alcohol is metabolized by the system can help prevent the dangerous consequences of excessive alcohol consumption. Contact a treatment provider today to learn about rehabilitation options.
Learn more about David Hampton. Brown University. Alcohol and Your Body. Galan, Nicole. How the Body Processes Alcohol.
National Health Service. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol Facts and Statistics. Stanford University. Weathermon, Ron. Alcohol and Medication Interactions. If you or a loved one is ready to overcome an alcohol addiction, reach out today.
Also known as blood alcohol content, BAC is the percentage of alcohol in the blood. In most countries, a BAC 0. A blood alcohol level of 0. At around 0. Once a BAC reaches about 0. However, if alcohol is consumed very rapidly, as might occur in binge drinking, lethal blood levels may be reached before the individual passes out, likely resulting in alcohol poisoning. The amount of time that it takes for the body to process alcohol depends on a large number of factors.
Some of the most important include:. Make a Call Different types of alcoholic beverages have different alcohol concentrations.
The amount of alcohol in various alcoholic beverages can be seen in the table below. The body generally processes approximately one standard drink per hour.
If you have 5 standard drinks, it will take 5 hours for your body to process the alcohol. For some examples of how long it will take for your body to process various amounts of alcohol consult the table below. Alcohol is transported throughout the body through the blood, and as a result there are many possible tests to detect its presence. To see how long various tests will detect alcohol, please consult the table below.
If you suspect that you or someone you love has a drinking problem, do not wait another minute. Contact a treatment provider now to find a treatment center.
After graduation, he decided to pursue his passion of writing and editing. All of the information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional. Theresa is also a Certified Professional Life Coach and volunteers at a local mental health facility helping individuals who struggle with homelessness and addiction. Theresa is a well-rounded clinician with experience working as a Primary Addiction Counselor, Case Manager and Director of Utilization Review in various treatment centers for addiction and mental health in Florida, Minnesota, and Colorado.
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