KNOW YOUR
BAC
It’s Easy as ABC. BY MATTHEW BIDDLE
PICTURE THIS: After a celebratory evening, you and a few friends are waiting for a ride share or a taxi. You’ve had the exact same number of drinks, but you’re all feeling a bit differently. That’s because each person’s body processes alcohol differently — and understanding how your body responds to alcohol is key to raising a glass responsibly. Blood alcohol content, or BAC, measures the ratio of alcohol to blood in your bloodstream. For example, a 0.08 percent BAC means you have 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood. While a 0.08 percent BAC is the legal limit for drivers in almost every state, including Ohio, the safest decision is to never drive after consuming alcohol. As you enjoy a cocktail, it takes about 15 minutes for the alcohol to absorb into your bloodstream, causing your BAC to rise and you to feel its effects. “Those mood enhancements — feeling more social, getting relaxed, feeling like you can dance — tend to be at lower BACs, between 0.02 percent to maybe as high as 0.06 percent,” said Jim Lange, PhD, executive director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery at The Ohio State University. “The not-so-good things you try to avoid are usually above that 0.06 percent level.” Several factors affect how your body metabolizes alcohol and thus the BAC you reach, including how many drinks you’ve had and how quickly you consumed them. Eating a meal before grabbing a drink will slow down the alcohol’s absorption rate, but eventually it will reach your bloodstream. Meanwhile, drinking water may help you feel better — particularly the
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next morning — but its effect on your BAC will be minimal. “Where it can be useful is when people use water to slow their drinking down,” Lange said. “If you alternate your drinks with water or something else that doesn’t contain alcohol, that gives your body time to absorb what you’ve already consumed and start to metabolize it.” Body composition, weight, and gender are critical factors, too. Generally speaking, smaller individuals will feel alcohol’s effects more than larger people. And, according to Lange, if a man and woman of the same size match each another’s drinks, her BAC will climb faster than his. “For an average-sized man, drinking what we consider one standard drink will move his BAC up to about 0.02 percent,” said Lange, noting that a standard drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits. “But a woman of average size with that same drink would reach 0.03 percent.” By contrast, Lange said the rate alcohol leaves the body is relatively constant; most people will lose about 0.015 percent BAC each hour, regardless of their size or gender. “There’s nothing you can do to increase the rate at which alcohol leaves the body,” Lange said. “Once you consume alcohol, the only way to get rid of it is through your body’s natural metabolizing process. Anything else you’ve heard is not really confirmed.” Before pouring a drink, Lange shares that it’s most important to monitor your intake to stay safe. “Think about what you really want alcohol to do for you — and understand that those BACs are pretty low for what most people are interested in experiencing,” he said.
