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How Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Your Body
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How Alcohol Affects Your Brain
Alcohol consumption has been part of human civilization for thousands of years. But while we have a general understanding of the effects of alcohol — most people know when one drink is too many — the details of what happens to your body when you’re drunk are more complex.
We’ve dissected some of the research on alcohol use to show what happens to your body and mind when you start (and continue) drinking.
When trying to calculate how much you’ve drunk, it’s important to remember that a typical drink, as defined by researchers, is 1.5-ounces of alcohol (80-proof, which includes most regular whiskeys, gins, vodkas, tequilas, and rum), a 5-ounce glass of wine (about 12% alcohol) or a 12-ounce beer (about 5% alcohol). That means a pint of one of our favorite IPAS is close to two regular drinks.
One drink affects people in different ways depending on their gender, size and other factors. That’s why we used blood alcohol content (BAC) as the parameter in the graph below. This is what happens when the amount of alcohol in your blood increases:
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Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest business stories, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley – delivered daily. How long alcohol stays in the body depends on factors such as personal characteristics, how much the person drank and how quickly. Some tests can detect alcohol in the body for up to 24 hours.
Alcohol is a short-lived depressant in the body. Once alcohol enters your bloodstream, your body will metabolize a certain amount of alcohol every hour, depending on the person and other factors such as liver size and weight.
In the test, the type of test you do can also affect the results, because the tests differ in sensitivity.
Read on to learn more about the life cycle of alcohol in the body and important factors to consider.
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Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) refers to the amount of alcohol in your blood relative to the amount of water in your blood.
Your body metabolizes alcohol regularly at about one drink per hour. However, this may vary slightly depending on factors such as gender, age, dietary intake and more.
When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed quickly in the stomach and small intestine. From there it enters your bloodstream to travel to the liver.
Your liver releases enzymes to break down alcohol. However, the organ can only metabolize a small amount at a time, allowing the excess to circulate through your body. So how much alcohol a given time gives you a very strong idea.
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It is also important to know how much alcohol is in your drink because that determines how long it takes to digest your drink. For example, some beers have a higher alcohol content, which affects the amount of alcohol you drink in one drink.
Although there are many factors at play, the average metabolic rate to remove alcohol is about one drink per hour.
Urine tests can detect alcohol long after you’ve had your last drink by examining the amount of alcohol metabolites. The average urine test can detect alcohol up to 12 hours after drinking. However, advanced tests can measure alcohol in urine 24 hours after drinking.
Alcohol breath tests can detect alcohol in a short period of time, about 4-6 hours. A small machine called a breathalyzer measures your BAC. Any top song
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You may have heard that it is okay to drink alcohol while breastfeeding or nursing a baby under certain circumstances.
Alcohol poisoning is a two-stage condition, also known as ethanol poisoning. The condition occurs when you drink too much alcohol and it affects your body’s organs.
One stage is the acute form of alcohol poisoning, which is often caused by excessive drinking. The second is a chronic condition where you drink a lot of alcohol, but you become aware of it and exercise naturally due to high tolerance over time. Your experience of the toxic effects of the condition will vary depending on whether you have an acute or chronic condition.
The signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning depend on your BAC. As your BAC level rises, so does the severity of your symptoms.
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Chronic alcohol poisoning leads to chronic alcoholic liver disease. Heavy drinkers are more likely to develop heart disease. Other symptoms include:
Acute alcohol poisoning is usually a medical emergency. The sooner you seek help, the better your chances of reducing serious complications.
Call your local emergency service if you suspect that a friend or loved one has alcohol poisoning. To avoid vomiting, turn the person on their side. Never leave a friend alone with alcohol poisoning.
The dangers of alcohol use affect many, but some are at greater risk of being diagnosed than others. In addition, mental illness is often part of the medical history of those affected.
Effects Of Alcohol On The Body
It is measured in 0.6 ounces or 14 grams of pure wine. The amount of alcohol in common drinks includes:
Drinking water won’t make you unconscious, but it can keep you from drinking too fast. Because you metabolize alcohol over time, drinking water between drinks gives your liver time to process the alcohol.
It can make you more alert, but it doesn’t reduce other effects. So drinking coffee with alcohol is dangerous and should be avoided as it can make you worse.
It is not possible to remove alcohol from breast milk by pumping. As long as alcohol is metabolized in your body, your milk will contain trace amounts. To help you avoid stopping breastfeeding, clear it before you drink or wait two hours after you drink one.
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The degree to which alcohol can remain in your system depends on several factors. The bottom line is safety and moderation. Limit your consumption to a few drinks a week and avoid excessive consumption.
Also, make sure you stand in line if you drink outside. Even if you are under the legal limit, it is never safe to drive with any alcohol.
It has strict purchasing guidelines and is based on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutes and medical organizations. We avoid using university references. You can learn more about how we make sure our content is accurate and up-to-date by reading our editorial policy.
Our experts are constantly monitoring the health and wellness world and we update our articles as new information becomes available. When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed into your bloodstream and affects every part of your body. After the first sip, alcohol rushes to the brain, releasing feel-good endorphins that increase your heart rate. Heavy drinking has negative consequences for your overall well-being, including your personality and mental health. Most importantly, alcohol is seriously damaging to your physical health. Below are the long-term effects of alcohol on the body:
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Heavy drinking can lead to brain damage and memory loss. A recent study examined more than 36,000 middle-aged adults and examined the relationship between their alcohol consumption and brain volume. Researchers have found that one or two drinks a day are associated with changes in the brain equivalent to the age of two years. In other words, a 50-year-old who drinks a pint of beer or a glass of wine every day effectively ages his brain by 2 years. Participants self-reported their alcohol consumption over a year, which could introduce errors if they forgot how much they consumed or if their consumption was heavier than in other years. So while this research is still in its early stages, the initial results contradict the common myth that “a glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away.”
Another way heavy drinking can affect the brain is by causing Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). This debilitating brain disease can be caused by a deficiency of thiamine, a vitamin that most chronic alcohol users lack due to poor diet and low body intake. The first symptoms of WKS are loss of muscle coordination, vision problems and confusion. If left untreated, the brain suffers further damage, affecting learning and memory skills. WKS can be treated by avoiding alcohol and proper nutrition, but it can take years to fully recover.
Heavy drinkers are at risk of tooth decay, periodontal disease and mouth sores that may precede it. Many alcoholic beverages have high sugar content which causes tooth decay and cavities. Bacteria feed on sugar, so a person with an alcohol use disorder provides the perfect environment for the bacteria in their mouth
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