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It takes the body around an hour to metabolise one unit of alcohol. However, the amount of time it takes the body to break down alcohol is influenced by a number of factors.
These factors either slow down or speed up the amount of time it takes the body to metabolise alcohol.
Knowing how long it takes alcohol to be metabolised in your body allows you to roughly track the level of alcohol in your system.
This helps you to prevent alcohol intoxication.
In this post, we shall look at these factors.
Below, we list a number of factors that affect the amount of time it takes your body to break down alcohol.
These factors include:
The amount of alcohol contained in your system is known as the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). To detect alcohol in your system, a number of methods are employed. For instance, to detect alcohol in your breath, a Breathalyser is used. To detect alcohol in your urine, a urine sample will be taken.
The amount of time it takes your body to rid itself of alcohol is also influenced by the amount and type of alcohol you drink. If you drink a pint of whisky, the body will surely take longer to process this vast amount of alcohol compared to drinking a pint of weak lager.
The amount of alcohol contained in a drink is measured by units. One unit of alcohol equates to 10ml of pure ethanol.
Below, we list the number of units contained in common measurements of alcohol served in bars, pubs and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom.
As stated above, it roughly takes one hour for the body to metabolise one unit of alcohol. During a drinking session, it makes sense to count the number of drinks you consume. This will allow you to calculate the amount of time it takes your body to metabolise this precise amount of alcohol. If you drink a 750ml bottle of wine, you will have consumed 9 units of alcohol. It will thus take your body 9 hours to fully metabolise this amount of alcohol.
Please add an additional two hours to this rough calculation in regards to the amount of time it takes your body to metabolise alcohol. Why? Because the above is only intended to serve as guidelines. The amount of time it takes your body to break down alcohol is affected by a number of different factors listed above. Adding an additional two hours to the above ensures your body has been permitted enough time to eliminate all alcohol toxins from your body before you, for instance, attempt to drive a vehicle or operate heavy machinery.
If you must drive a vehicle the following day after a drinking session, then we advise you limit your drinking to 2-3 units. This ensures you will not still have alcohol in your blood when you drive.
Alcohol is a toxin. When you expose your body to alcohol, you risk harming your health in a number of ways. To encourage people to drink moderately, the Government has published drinking limitation guidelines. These guidelines advise women and men not to drink more than 2 units a day, and no more than 14 units over the course of a week.
Generally speaking, alcohol remains in urine and it is detectable in a urine test for around 12-36 hours following consumption. Some advanced urine tests may detect alcohol in the urine for a period up to 80 hours after consumption. Urine testing (urinalysis) detects the metabolites formed when alcohol is broken down in the liver.
Urinalysis to detect alcohol involves an expensive procedure, so law enforcement agencies prefer to test for alcohol consumption in the breath and saliva using a Breathalyser. A Breathalyser may detect alcohol in the breath for around 24 hours following consumption.
An alternative means of testing for alcohol consumption is by way of a hair follicle test. This will reveal alcohol consumption for up to 90 days following consumption. Like the urine test, a hair follicle test is expensive and thus rare in practice.
When you drink alcohol, it passes through your digestive system. However, alcohol is not digested because much of it is absorbed into the bloodstream. From the blood, alcohol is then filtered and then broken down in the liver. Around 20% of alcohol you consume passes into the blood vessels. The remaining 80% of alcohol that’s not absorbed directly through blood vessels is nevertheless absorbed into the bloodstream through the small intestine.
Alcohol then passes through the body in the bloodstream. Alcohol reaches the brain where it stimulates a number of neurotransmitters such as GABA-A and dopamine. The stimulation of these neurotransmitters explains the pleasurable effects we experience when alcohol is consumed.
If you own a website, we would really appreciate it if you could link to this blog post. Many of the issues raised in this post are rarely mentioned in other sources. Adding a link to this blog post on how long it takes your body to break down alcohol will surely raise awareness about these important and potentially life-changing issues.
If you enjoyed this post and you feel you could add to the discussion, please leave a blog comment below. We really appreciate your input on this important topic.
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