Author: Kevin Dickinson / Source: Big Think
- Alcohol is the world’s most popular drug and has been a part of human culture for at least 9,000 years.
- Alcohol’s effects on the brain range from temporarily limiting mental activity to sustained brain damage, depending on levels consumed and frequency of use.
- Understanding how alcohol affects your brain can help you determine what drinking habits are best for you.
Alcohol has enjoyed a near universal presence across human societies. Our ancestors began experimenting with alcohol fermentation at least 9,000 years ago and incorporated such heady drinks into their ceremonies, celebrations, social gatherings, and even medical practices. Today, alcohol is the most popular drug in the world. We use it to destress, to cheer us up, and to lubricate social interactions.
But why have people across cultures and through the ages enjoyed alcohol so much? It’s all in how alcohol interacts with the human brain.
To see how alcohol affects the brain, let’s perform a little thought experiment. Imagine you’re at your favorite haunt, and you order a drink. It doesn’t matter if it is wine, beer, or a cocktail. As far as our brains are concerned, alcohol is alcohol is alcohol. (Our waistlines, however, have another opinion on the matter.)
You ease into the booth, have a few sips, and enjoy some chitchat. You polish off your drink as a sense of relaxation disperses across your consciousness. Here’s what’s going on inside that head of yours.
Alcohol inbound
To get to the brain, alcohol must first be absorbed into your body through the GI tract.
Most of the booze will be sopped up by your small intestines, where epithelial cells send it into the bloodstream. If you are drinking on an empty stomach, the alcohol beelines to the small intestine, and you’ll feel its effects wash over you quite suddenly.But if you enjoyed some pub grub with your drink, you’ll notice the effects take longer to hit you. That’s because your pyloric sphincter is closed to allow the stomach to digest the food. While your stomach absorbs some of the alcohol, it can’t manage the job as effectively as your intestines.
Once in the bloodstream, the alcohol moves throughout your body. Your liver begins metabolizing what alcohol it can, but it can only manage so much at a time. On average it can handle one standard drink per hour, but this rate is highly dependent on you as an individual. Some people process their alcohol faster, others slower.
For the record, the United States health organizations measure one standard drink as 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits (at roughly 40 percent alcohol by volume, or ABV), 5 ounces of wine (at roughly 12 percent ABV), and 12 ounces of beer (at roughly 5 percent ABV).
Since you are drinking out, you’ll need to pay attention to how much you’ve consumed in standard measurements. If you ordered a pint of your favorite IPA, for example, you probably consumed 16 ounces of beer at 7.5 percent ABV. You ordered one drink, but your liver is handling closer to two standard drinks.
But hey, it’s the weekend, and you decide to belly up to the bar and order another round.
At this point, you’re consuming alcohol faster than your liver can metabolize it, and the excess is accumulating in your bloodstream, increasing your blood alcohol concentration (or BAC). As the alcohol rides your bloodstream, it eventually makes its way to your brain, where it passes the blood-brain barrier…
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