FAQ On Alcohol

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There's hardly a man who doesn't enjoy his drink, but few among us know what the happy elixir does to the body and the mind. This FAQ on alcohol is not meant to turn you away from your beer, but to let you know what happens when you throw a few ones back.



Why does alcohol lower inhibitions?

Can we develop a higher tolerance to alcohol?

Why do we sometimes get sick when drinking?

Is it bad to drink alcohol on an empty stomach?

Why do we get dehydrated from alcohol?

Alcohol acts as a sedative on the central nervous system, which explains the impaired speech, vision, coordination, and concentration. But the part of the brain it affects the most is the part responsible for behavior and emotion. Your sense of judgment is weakened, and suddenly speaking your mind doesn't seem so bad. You feel braver since your socially conditioned safety stops or filters are circumvented. This is why drunken people sometimes think they're OK to drive.Any fast-living college dude will tell you that it's getting more and more expensive for him to get drunk. No kidding. Prolonged alcohol use does increase your tolerance to the stuff. The body becomes more efficient at metabolizing the alcohol — the process is up to 72% faster in alcoholics — so it takes more booze to achieve the same drunken state. But beyond that, your organs simply become less sensitive to alcohol, so you don't feel it as much. Be careful; this is a precursor to permanent tissue damage. Good thing you read this FAQ on alcohol before you skin blisters yellow.Like many of us, you've probably had an upset stomach or thrown up at one point after drinking. A byproduct of alcohol breakdown by the liver is acetaldehyde, a toxic substance. It is, in fact, this molecule that causes impairment, not the ethanol in your drink. In high concentrations, acetaldehyde attacks the liver, the brain and the lining of the stomach. This is what causes the familiar upset stomach and heartburn. If it's too much for the body to handle, it forces the stuff out, resulting in a make-out session with a toilet bowl. Acetaldehyde poisoning is compounded when different alcohols are mixed.It's bad only if you plan on enjoying your night to its fullest. When you drink on an empty stomach, there's no food to slow the absorption of the booze. Result: the alcohol gets absorbed faster (within five minutes) and you get intoxicated more rapidly. You'll get just as drunk as if your stomach was full, but it will hit you harder. On the other hand, drinking alcohol on a full stomach allows you to go through a gradual ascent into tipsiness.The body starts breaking down alcohol as soon as you take your first sip, in order to safely excrete it. To properly dispose of it, your liver needs water to dilute the toxins, so it pulls water reserves from other parts of the body. But since alcohol is a diuretic (it stimulates urination), water leaves your body at a higher rate, so your liver must obtain water from other organs, including your brain, which essentially leaves you high and dry.

Our FAQ on alcohol continues with more questions, such as: Can alcohol can kill you? Why does alcohol make you emotional? Can you drink alcohol while taking antibiotics?