Alcohol and the Body

Alcohol is a depressant that mainly effects the central nervous system, but those effects are directly proportional as to how much is absorbed by the body and into the blood.  This page will explain the process of alcohol going through the body, and also the complications that can be seen with excessive alcohol use over a prolonged period of time (Not to worry….we’re talking years and years of excessive use ).

Stomach 

When alcohol is first ingested, it passes through the stomach where approximately 10-20% is absorbed by simple diffusion (term for biology nerds) into the blood stream.  A common myth of alcohol consumption is that eating more can “soak up” the alcohol, but this is not true.  Rather, eating more food will delay the release valve (pyloric sphincter in bio nerd language) from opening into your small intestine, allowing the stomach to work on it longer and delay your blood alcohol concentration.  If someone is a heavy drinker, prolonged exposure to alcohol can erode the stomach lining and cause chronic blood seepage into the stomach.

Small Intestine

Because of it’s large surface area, the most efficient region of the gastrointestinal tract for alcohol absorption is the small intestine.  The remaining 80% of alcohol is absorbed here into the blood stream. Years of alcohol use poses risk of damaging the cells in the lining of the stomach, which can block absorption and break down of nutrients.

Liver

Once the alcohol enters the bloodstream, it is processed by enzymes in the liver.  On average, the liver can metabolize about one standard drink (i.e. one 12 ounce bottle of beer, one 4 ounce glass of wine, 1 shot) in one hour. If alcohol is consumed in addition to these amounts, it can generally not be processed by the liver. When this happens, your blood becomes saturated and the additional alcohol makes its way to your body tissues and blood stream.  This cumulative effect thus causes an increasing blood alcohol concentration.  To determine your blood alcohol concentration, refer to our wallet-size BAC card under Home Page > Media Projects > Print.

A common complication with excessive alcohol use over a prolonged period of time is Cirrhosis, a chronic scarring of the liver caused by liver cell inflammation and cell death.  If caught early, Cirrhosis can be reversible, but if not it can lead to complications such as liver enlargement, jaundice (yellowing of the skin), internal bleeding, metabolic abnormalities, and eventually death.

Rate of Oxidation vs. Rate of Absorption

Two commonly confused terms are the rate of absorption and the rate of oxidation. As explained earlier, the rate of oxidation refers to the rate at which the liver processes alcohol in the bloodstream (one standard drink per hour). Rate of absorption refers to how quickly alcohol enters your body.  There are a number of factors that can affect this such as weight, how much alcohol you drink, and gender.  In general, the less you weigh, the more you’ll be affected.  A well muscled individual will also be less affected than a person with more fatty tissue.  These two factors are because alcohol has a high affinity for water and is therefore found in body tissues and fluids that contain larger fluid amounts. Women also lack an enzyme that men have that breaks down alcohol better.  The body’s ability to metabolize alcohol also tends to diminish with age, but this varies with individuals.