Once in the stomach, alcohol is absorbed directly into your blood stream through the tissue lining of the stomach and small intestine. First, it physically obstructs the alcohol from coming in contact with the stomach lining. Second, food in the stomach will prevent alcohol from passing into the duodenum, which is the upper portion of the small intestine.
The surface area of the small intestine is very large about the size of a tennis court , so alcohol has more access to enter the bloodstream once it leaves the stomach. If alcohol is sequestered in the stomach it will be absorbed slower. Once alcohol is in your bloodstream, it is carried to all organs of your body.
In the majority of healthy people, blood circulates through the body in 90 seconds, thereby allowing alcohol to affect your brain and all other organs in a short amount of time.
The full effects of a drink are felt within 15 to 45 minutes depending on the speed of absorption. Alcohol enters all tissues of the body except bone and fat. Body composition is important, because if the percentage of adipose tissue is high, the alcohol can only be distributed throughout the remaining lean tissue — resulting in a higher concentration for those areas. The effects of alcohol on the body will vary according to the individual: their sex, body composition, the amount of alcohol consumed, the presence of food, and the ability of the liver to produce the alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes.
Alcohol is a toxin that must be neutralized or eliminated from the body. Ten percent of alcohol is eliminated through sweat, breath, and urine. Alcohol is volatile will evaporate in air , so when alcohol in the blood comes in contact with air in the alveoli of the lungs, it can be transferred out of the body through breath. The liver is the primary organ responsible for the detoxification of alcohol. Liver cells produce the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase which breaks alcohol into ketones at a rate of about 0.
Nothing will speed up the rate of detoxification, but the effective metabolism of alcohol can be limited by medications and liver damage.
Alcohol leaves the body at an average rate of 0. For men, this is usually a rate of about one standard drink per hour. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Heavy drinking increases the risk of a variety of negative health consequences from liver disease to cancer. But some people who drink heavily appear to be at a greater risk for developing these problems than others. Researchers believe the difference between those with greater risk and those with lower risk may involve how the body metabolizes, or breaks down and eliminates alcohol, which can vary widely from individual to individual.
No matter how much alcohol you consume, your body can only metabolize a certain amount every hour. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it can take a fasting adult male between two to seven hours to return to a zero blood-alcohol content BAC , or blood alcohol concentration, level after rapidly consuming one to four standard drinks. People who drank only one drink recorded a BAC of 0.
Those who had four drinks during the first hour did not return to a 0. The results illustrate the fact that the body can only break down and eliminate so much alcohol per hour. It is important to remember that these times are averages.
In reality, the time each individual takes to metabolize alcohol can vary widely. But in all cases, alcohol is metabolized more slowly than it is absorbed. When alcohol is consumed, it is absorbed into the blood from the stomach and intestines.
Then enzymes, bodily chemicals that break down other chemicals, begin to metabolize the alcohol. Two liver enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase ADH and aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH , begin to break apart the alcohol molecule so it can eventually be eliminated from the body. ADH helps convert alcohol to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is only in the body for a short time because it is rapidly converted to acetate by other enzymes. Although acetaldehyde is present in the body a short period of time, it is highly toxic and a known carcinogen.
Most of the alcohol is metabolized by the liver as described above, but small amounts are eliminated from the body by forming fatty acid ethyl esters FAEEs , compounds that have been found to damage the liver and pancreas. Lastly, a small quantity of alcohol is not metabolized and is instead eliminated in the breath and urine, which is how BAC is measured in breath and urine tests. Acetaldehyde can cause significant damage to the liver because that is where most alcohol is broken down into the toxic by-product.
That said, some alcohol is instead metabolized in the pancreas and the brain, where acetaldehyde can also damage cells and tissues. Small amounts of alcohol are metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract, which can also be damaged by acetaldehyde.
Some researchers believe the effects of acetaldehyde go beyond the damage it can cause to tissues, but might also be responsible for some of the behavioral and physiological effects attributed to alcohol. When researchers administered acetaldehyde to laboratory animals it caused incoordination, memory impairment, and sleepiness. Other researchers claim it is not possible for acetaldehyde alone to cause these effects because the brain protects itself from toxic chemicals in the blood with its unique blood-brain barrier.
Nevertheless, when the enzymes catalase and CYP2E1 metabolize alcohol—which only happens when large amounts are consumed —acetaldehyde can be produced in the brain itself.
The size of the liver and body mass of the drinker are factors in how much alcohol a person can metabolize in an hour, but research tells us that the genetic makeup of the individual is probably the most significant factor in how efficiently alcohol is broken down and eliminated.
Simply put, this means some people have enzymes that can break down alcohol to acetaldehyde or acetaldehyde to acetate, more quickly than others. If someone has a fast-acting ADH enzyme or a slow-acting ALDH enzyme, they can have toxic acetaldehyde build up in the body, which can create dangerous or unpleasant effects when they drink alcohol. Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently from men. In the United States, someone is considered to be legally intoxicated and prohibited from driving a vehicle if their BAC level is 0.
Alcohol is metabolized at a constant rate, but some people may feel the effects of alcohol for longer amounts of time. 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.
0コメント