When it comes to alcohol, it affects people’s bodies differently. For example, a man and a woman can both drink the same alcoholic drinks within the same time period; however, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) would likely be higher than the man’s. On the other hand, two 25-year-old women could drink three glasses of the same wine in an hour, yet one of the women’s BAC would be higher than the other’s. Factors, such as body weight, fatigue, dehydration, and food could affect the women’s BAC levels.
Why Intoxication Levels Can Vary
Have you ever drunk alcohol and felt buzzed or very tipsy, but on another occasion, you drink even more alcohol, yet you can’t feel its effects? As we mentioned above, there are various factors that affect intoxication. On the day you felt buzzed, perhaps you hadn’t eaten in hours, or perhaps it was a hot day and you were dehydrated. An empty stomach, for example, speeds up the processing of alcohol. If you drink and it’s been a while since you’ve eaten, your BAC will peak between 30 minutes and two hours after drinking, whereas if you drink after a meal, your BAC would peak between one and six hours, depending on how much alcohol you drank. What factors that affect intoxication?
- Food: Food slows down the processing of alcohol.
- Fatigue: Fatigue can enhance the effects of alcohol.
- Gender: Women are affected by alcohol more than men.
- Mood: Feelings of anxiety or depression can be magnified after drinking.
- Illness: Since a lot of people are dehydrated while ill, this will result in a higher BAC.
- Medications: Certain medications should not be combined with alcohol because they increase the effects of the alcohol.
- Body weight: The more body fat, the less you’ll be affected by alcohol.
- Strength of the drink: Stronger drinks increase BAC.
- Rate of consumption: The faster you drink, the sooner you become intoxicated.
If you are facing DUI charges, contact our firm for a free case evaluation with our Phoenix DUI attorney, who is also a former Maricopa County prosecutor!
