Understanding the Metabolism of Alcohol
In order to consume roughly an ounce of absolute alcohol, someone would have to drink two 12 ounce cans of beer, or one 8-ounce glass of wine, or a mixed drink containing about 2 1/2 ounces of Scotch or gin.
According to the equivalency rule, which states that the effects of alcohol are determined principally by the volume of pure alcohol that is drunk, rather than the type of drink itself, these drinks would be roughly equal in strength and would have approximately the same effects on one’s body.
We often talk about alcohol and its effects without truly understanding how alcohol works and where it gets its potency.
Alcohol, when it enters the body, is translated into what pharmacologists call blood alcohol concentration (BAC), or blood alcohol level (BAL). This corresponds fairly closely to the percent of one’s blood that is made up of alcohol after it is ingested; a given BAC or BAL level has been described as ‘bathing the brain’ in a given alcohol concentration.
There is a relationship between blood alcohol concentration and what we do under the influence. The effects of alcohol are, to a large degree, dose-related: with some variation, the more that is drunk, the greater the effect.
The effects of alcohol are influenced by many factors. Some of them are directly physiological. Since alcohol registers its impact via the bloodstream, the SIZE of the drinker influences blood-alcohol concentration; the presence of food and water in the stomach; the speed at which one drinks; the presence of carbonation in an alcoholic beverage; and lastly, sex or gender. (Women, apparently, are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol, and manifest effects at lower doses, or greater effects at the same dosage, than is true of men.)
In order to consume roughly an ounce of absolute alcohol, someone would have to drink two 12 ounce cans of beer, or one 8-ounce glass of wine, or a mixed drink containing about 2 1/2 ounces of Scotch or gin.
According to the equivalency rule, which states that the effects of alcohol are determined principally by the volume of pure alcohol that is drunk, rather than the type of drink itself, these drinks would be roughly equal in strength and would have approximately the same effects on one’s body.
We often talk about alcohol and its effects without truly understanding how alcohol works and where it gets its potency.
Alcohol, when it enters the body, is translated into what pharmacologists call blood alcohol concentration (BAC), or blood alcohol level (BAL). This corresponds fairly closely to the percent of one’s blood that is made up of alcohol after it is ingested; a given BAC or BAL level has been described as ‘bathing the brain’ in a given alcohol concentration.
There is a relationship between blood alcohol concentration and what we do under the influence. The effects of alcohol are, to a large degree, dose-related: with some variation, the more that is drunk, the greater the effect.
The effects of alcohol are influenced by many factors. Some of them are directly physiological. Since alcohol registers its impact via the bloodstream, the SIZE of the drinker influences blood-alcohol concentration; the presence of food and water in the stomach; the speed at which one drinks; the presence of carbonation in an alcoholic beverage; and lastly, sex or gender. (Women, apparently, are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol, and manifest effects at lower doses, or greater effects at the same dosage, than is true of men.)
