Alcohol is a depressant. It slows down your reaction time and makes it difficult for your body to function. It contains toxins, which is why as soon as it enters your body, your body begins to eliminate it. Your liver breaks it down into different substances that are eliminated from your body through urine, sweat, and breath.Â
Alcohol enters your bloodstream in about ninety seconds, absorbing through saliva in your mouth. But most of the alcohol enters your bloodstream through the stomach, about 20% of it. The rest 80% through the small intestine. How long does it take alcohol to kick in? It depends on various factors such as:
- What you drink
- If you are drinking on an empty stomach
- How fast you drink
- Medications
- Your weight and sex
- How fast your body metabolizes it
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There is no science needed to explain that the more you drink, the more time effects will last. And the faster you drink, the faster you will be able to notice them. Moderate drinking is not dangerous at all. If you are consuming alcohol at a slow and steady pace, there are no risks involved. A drink an hour is completely safe. You will feel lightheaded, and good. Because alcohol increases the level of hormones in your body that make
you feel good like dopamine and serotonin. But, you must know the limit. How to know if you are drunk and should stop? When you’re drunk, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Slurred speech
- Lack of concentration
- Either over-friendly or rude
- Imbalance on feet
- Drowsiness
You are legally considered drunk once you hit 0.08 BAC. BAC (Blood alcohol concentration) defines the percentage of alcohol in your blood. 0.08 BAC means there is 8g of alcohol on every 100ml of blood. Many tests can be performed to measure it. One of the most common is a breathalyzer, widely used by police to suspects of drunk driving. Breathalyzers can only detect up to 24 hours of consumption.
However, there are further tests as well that can detect alcohol (ethanol) in your urine, saliva, sweat, and blood after hours of consumption. Such as:
- Saliva for up to 2 hours.
- Urine for up to 12 and 24 hours (depending on how much you drank)
- Hair tests for up to 90 days
How Long Will It Take To Clean Your Boby From Alcohol?
Alcohol enters every tissue in your body, except fat and bone. Your liver breaks down 90% of it, but substance passes from your kidneys, and lungs as well. This is why alcohol impacts every organ including the heart and brain.
The liver breaks it to acetaldehyde which is a toxin, it then is metabolized into carbon dioxide which then is discarded from your body. On average, it takes an hour for a healthy liver to eliminate one drink. But this doesn’t mean you are clean. There are still metabolites of alcohol present in your body, that can be recorded in the breathalyzer and so on. As discussed earlier, your liver breaks alcohol at a fixed rate. Therefore, heavy drinking can result in alcohol poisoning.
WHAT CAUSES ALCOHOL POISONING?
Alcohol poisoning appears upon gulping one drink after another in a short time. The familiar term for it is binge drinking.
The problem occurs when you drink alcohol faster than your body can process it, which means your BAC rises, which cannot be filtered out by your liver. Alcohol poisoning can be characterized by the following symptoms:
- Slow reaction time
- Excessive vomiting
- Dehydration
- Slow breathing
- Passing out
- Low body temperature
Binge-drinking can be extremely risky. It can lead to permanent damage, such as Coma and even death. Not only do you gamble your life when you binge drink but of others as well. You can choke on your vomit upon passing out, and have blackouts. Furthermore, chances of you encountering an accident also rise because of your lack of focus in vision.
One of the best ways to prevent it is by changing your environment. Who is it you drink with and when? It could be some bar or some friend that works as a trigger to your binge drinking. Avoid drinking competitions or games that make you drink mindlessly. And, think more about how you can keep things normal and have more fun. Think about all the possible misfortunes and risky situations that come with binge drinking. Such as, unprotected sex, arrest, unsafe driving, and above all alcohol poisoning that could be fatal.
What to do if you see signs of alcohol poisoning in someone?
If you see signs of alcohol poisoning in someone, seek medical help as soon as possible. Dial for an ambulance, and while you wait. Try to keep them conscious. Bring them water. Make sure they are breathing. Don’t treat it on your own. Because alcohol can rise in your blood up to 40 minutes after the last drink, and things can get worse. “Sleeping it off” is of no help under such situations.
Conclusion Lesson
It’s good to go out, and have a drink once in a while. It’s a great social activity that can be very satisfying, but as long as you can maintain it properly. However, if you are someone who can’t restrain the temptations and approaches it “I will drink some more, and piss some more”. Then it’s better to keep a friend with you who can check on you if you drink too much, and drive you home safe.
