Everyone wants to go out with their friends, drink a couple of beers or mixed drinks, and have a good time. However, fun can quickly turn into an evening that crashes and burns if you do not learn how to better control yourself when drinking alcoholic beverages. Being a responsible drinker is a quality that your friends, your family, and society as a whole will appreciate.
What Happens When You Consume Alcohol
When you consume alcohol, the substance is first absorbed via your small intestine and stomach. And if your stomach is empty, the alcohol will be absorbed at a faster rate. After the alcohol exits the small intestine, it moves to the liver, then the heart, the brain, the muscles, and the body tissue. This process occurs at a quick pace, lasting only several minutes. In most cases, the person who is drinking alcohol will experience pleasant, relaxing physical side effects.
However, the human body is not built to store alcohol, which means the liver will instead break the substance down. First, the liver will transform alcohol into a toxic, organic, chemical compound known as acetaldehyde as well as a non-toxic sodium salt called acetate. Both of these chemicals are further broken down to make water and carbon dioxide.
Typically, the liver will break down 90-95% of consumed alcohol while the rest is excreted through sweat, breath, and urine. The rate in which your body will break down alcohol depends on several factors such as your gender, weight, and age. However, the average alcohol break down time is one beverage every hour.
Tips to Controlling Yourself While Under the Influence of Alcohol
Nobody wants to be known as the guy who can not control himself when drinking. The kind of guy who gets into bar fights, vomits in the parking lot, and generally makes a fool of himself. Eventually, this guy will stop getting invites to places where alcohol will be served. Prevent alcohol from killing your social life by following these tips.
Eat First–If you eat a healthy-sized meal before drinking alcohol, the partially digested food will assist the body with the alcohol absorption process and reduce the negative side effects caused by alcohol. It is also recommended to nibble on light snacks periodically to continue slowing your body’s consumption of alcohol.
Beer Is Better–Beer has a lower alcohol content than hard liquors found in mixed drinks, meaning less side effects. Plus, many mixed drinks contain high levels of sweeteners from added juice and soft drinks and sugar tends to not only cause you to be sick, but also doubles your hangover nightmare.
Pick One and Stick with It–Make a choice to drink either wine, liquor, or beer and stick with it for the rest of the night. If you feel you want to play with fire, you are better of downing shots of liquor before popping the top of your beer.
Monitor Your Physical Feelings–If you have that “fuzzy” sensation in your head or feel generally buzzed, slow down your drinking until the feeling subsides. You must be able to monitor your alcohol intake or you will never be able to keep yourself under control.
Know When to Call It Quits–Once you feel enough is enough, its time to start drinking soda or water instead. Alcohol poisoning and terrible hangovers are not worth pushing your body’s alcohol intake limit in order to act like the big shot of the evening.
Do Not Drive–This is no-brainer but unfortunately, drinking while driving is an all too common occurrence. Do not become a statistic.
Skip the Alcohol if You Take Medication–Quite a few prescription drugs interact with alcohol in dangerous ways. Discuss with your doctor the potential dangerous of taking your medication while drinking alcohol.