by Lisa Frederiksen
Alcohol is not processed like other foods and liquids, which are proceeded (metabolized) by the digestive system. Instead, alcohol is metabolized by the liver. As a very general rule of thumb, it takes the liver about one hour to process the alcohol in one standard drink. Gender, weight, overall health, liver enzymes and any number of other factors can affect that time-frame, causing the liver to process faster or slower, but in general it takes about one hour.
Because alcohol dissolves in water, it travels quickly
Photo Courtesy: istock photos
through the bloodstream to body tissues high in water content and “sits” there while it waits for the liver to process the alcohol. One of those areas is the brain, which is also highly vascularized. This “sitting” in the brain while it waits to be processed by the liver suppresses certain brain functions, which is why a person who drinks too much on an occasion behaves in ways they normally would not — such as driving while impaired, having unprotected or unwanted sex, getting into a fight. The excessive alcohol actually interrupts normal brain functioning, and given our brains control everything we think, feel, say and do, it’s easier to understand, then, why drinking too much can cause these inappropriate or abnormal behaviors. Additionally, alcohol in various concentrations can work as a depressant or mild tranquilizer or general anesthetic. If alcohol concentration is high enough, it will inhibit even our most basic bodily functions, such as breathing, potentially resulting in death.
To help people who choose to drink to stay in control of their brains and thus their behaviors while they drink, it is important to understand “moderate drinking limits.” These are defined as follows
- for women, it is no more than 7 standard drinks in a week, with no more than 3 of those 7 in a day
- for men, it is no more than 14 standard drinks in a week, with no more than 4 of those 14 in a day.
The idea of the per day limits is to help people avoid binge drinking, which is defined as 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more for men. At binge drinking levels, a person’s liver is unable to process the alcohol in a manner that allows brain function to keep up — this is what causes a person to behave in ways they would never imagine if they hadn’t consumed so much.
[Note the term, "standard drink." A standard drink is 5 ounces of table wine, 12 ounces of regular beer, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof alcohol
L to R: 5 ounces of table wine, 1.5 ounces of bourbon, 1.5 ounce shot of vodka, 1.5 ounces of vodka on the rocks, 3.3 ounces of champagne, 12 ounces of regular bee. Photo Courtesy: Jessica Scott
and 3.3 ounces of champagne. It’s important to understand that many drinks poured at bars, restaurants and parties or served in cans or bottles contain far more than one standard drink. A 24-ounce Four Loko, for example, contains 5 standard drinks (as compared to a 24-ounce regular beer, which contains 2).]
by Lisa Frederiksen
Alcohol is not processed like other foods and liquids, which are proceeded (metabolized) by the digestive system. Instead, alcohol is metabolized by the liver. As a very general rule of thumb, it takes the liver about one hour to process the alcohol in one standard drink. Gender, weight, overall health, liver enzymes and any number of other factors can affect that time-frame, causing the liver to process faster or slower, but in general it takes about one hour.
Because alcohol dissolves in water, it travels quickly
Photo Courtesy: istock photos
through the bloodstream to body tissues high in water content and “sits” there while it waits for the liver to process the alcohol. One of those areas is the brain, which is also highly vascularized. This “sitting” in the brain while it waits to be processed by the liver suppresses certain brain functions, which is why a person who drinks too much on an occasion behaves in ways they normally would not — such as driving while impaired, having unprotected or unwanted sex, getting into a fight. The excessive alcohol actually interrupts normal brain functioning, and given our brains control everything we think, feel, say and do, it’s easier to understand, then, why drinking too much can cause these inappropriate or abnormal behaviors. Additionally, alcohol in various concentrations can work as a depressant or mild tranquilizer or general anesthetic. If alcohol concentration is high enough, it will inhibit even our most basic bodily functions, such as breathing, potentially resulting in death.
To help people who choose to drink to stay in control of their brains and thus their behaviors while they drink, it is important to understand “moderate drinking limits.” These are defined as follows - for women, it is no more than 7 standard drinks in a week, with no more than 3 of those 7 in a day
- for men, it is no more than 14 standard drinks in a week, with no more than 4 of those 14 in a day.
The idea of the per day limits is to help people avoid binge drinking, which is defined as 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more for men. At binge drinking levels, a person’s liver is unable to process the alcohol in a manner that allows brain function to keep up — this is what causes a person to behave in ways they would never imagine if they hadn’t consumed so much.
[Note the term, "standard drink." A standard drink is 5 ounces of table wine, 12 ounces of regular beer, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof alcohol
L to R: 5 ounces of table wine, 1.5 ounces of bourbon, 1.5 ounce shot of vodka, 1.5 ounces of vodka on the rocks, 3.3 ounces of champagne, 12 ounces of regular bee. Photo Courtesy: Jessica Scott
and 3.3 ounces of champagne. It’s important to understand that many drinks poured at bars, restaurants and parties or served in cans or bottles contain far more than one standard drink. A 24-ounce Four Loko, for example, contains 5 standard drinks (as compared to a 24-ounce regular beer, which contains 2).]