Wednesday, September 3, 2014

If two people drink the same amount of alcohol, how could one person be more intoxicated than the other?

I'm certainly no scientist, but this isn't really as
puzzling as it seems.  Several factors contribute to how quickly alcohol is absorbed
into the system.


The first is body size (weight).  Let's
face it, anything absorbed into the bloodstream is going to move through a smaller
person's body much more quickly than that of a larger
person.


The second is absorption.  If someone is drinking
on an empty stomach, there's nothing to absorb any of the alcohol, whereas eating
something periodically will help absorb some of the alcohol before it hits the
bloodstream.


The third is tolerance.  I really don't know
how this works, but I know it's true.  Just as different people have different levels of
pain tolerance, they can have differing levels of alcohol tolerance.  The first two are
somewhat knowable and can be accounted for by someone who chooses to drink.  This is
kind of the unknown factor, and it can change over
time.


Hope that helps.  I'll be anxious to see if anyone
has a more scientific approach to your question!

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