what happens inside your body when you drink alcohol?
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After a drink is swallowed, the alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the blood (20% through the stomach and 80% through the small intestine), with effects felt within 5 to 10 minutes after drinking. It usually peaks in the blood after 30-90 minutes and is carried through all the organs of the body.
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According to the Vestibular Disorders Association, alcohol changes the volume and composition of fluid in the inner ear, which can cause dizziness and imbalance as well as hearing loss. Alcohol is absorbed into the fluid of the inner ear and stays there, even after it is no longer present in the blood and the brain.
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That said, being dehydrated before drinking alcohol could cause your blood alcohol concentration to increase more quickly. In other words, you'll get drunk faster. “Essentially, when you're dehydrated, you'll feel alcohol's effects sooner and for longer,” Pfau says.
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Alcohol is known to increase levels of the "good" cholesterol, or HDL, and new research shows that it may act as a blood thinner. In the new study, drinking alcohol decreased the clumping together of clotting cells in the blood, a process that can lead to blood vessel blockages in the heart and possibly a heart attack.
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Alcohol affects your brain, specifically two neurotransmitters called GABA and Glutamate. These are chemicals in your body that orchestrate alcohol's effects on your thoughts, feelings and coordination. When it binds to GABA receptors, it activates them, leading to relaxation and this makes it easier to fall asleep.
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When you drink more often, your body produces more of the enzymes that break down alcohol to keep up. As we get older, we tend to drink less, and our body doesn't produce as much enzyme, so we simply break down alcohol more slowly. As our tolerance goes down, we get drunk faster and stay drunk longer.
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How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain? Alcohol has a profound effect on the complex structures of the brain. It blocks chemical signals between brain cells (called neurons), leading to the common immediate symptoms of intoxication, including impulsive behavior, slurred speech, poor memory, and slowed reflexes.
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When your body is in ketosis, the glycogen (AKA fuel from carbs) in your bloodstream is limited and can't absorb much alcohol, so you get drunk faster.
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Here's how alcohol can affect your body: Brain: Alcohol interferes with the brain's communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
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Lymphatic System When you drink, your blood vessels dilate, and lymph fluid is increased throughout the body. Your kidneys also excrete more fluid as alcohol is a diuretic. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause swelling in your lymph nodes, which can be painful.
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The liver. The liver breaks down most of the alcohol you drink so that it can be removed from the body. This creates substances that are even more harmful than alcohol. These substances can damage liver cells and cause serious liver disease.
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"You'll burn fewer calories too, because the alcohol is preventing your body from using its natural energy source – glucose." "While alcohol isn't stored as fat," Lucy says, "it blocks fat oxidation which basically accelerated the rate at which your body stores fat as body fat."
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The science of why alcohol makes you pee more Alcohol also reduces the production of a hormone called vasopressin, which tells your kidneys to reabsorb water rather than flush it out through the bladder. With the body's natural signal switched off, the bladder is free to fill up with fluid.
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Alcohol is an inflammatory substance, meaning it tends to cause swelling in the body. This inflammation may be made much worse by the things often mixed with alcohol, such as sugary and carbonated liquids, which can result in gas, discomfort, and more bloating.
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The liver roughly processes one ounce of alcohol per hour. If you drink any faster than one beer an hour you can get drunk. Especially if you drink 2 3 4 5 beer in a hour.
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Alcohol is absorbed directly into the bloodstream through the stomach and the small intestine. Food in the stomach slows down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach makes the person more vulnerable to becoming intoxicated—and to the consequences.
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Alcohol causes changes in the function of the kidneys and makes them less able to filter the blood. Alcohol also affects the ability to regulate fluid and electrolytes in the body. When alcohol dehydrates (dries out) the body, the drying effect can affect the normal function of cells and organs, including the kidneys.