One of the most effective methods to avoid a hangover is to keep an accurate count of the number of drinks you have had, and the time period in which you consumed though. Of course, everyone’s tolerance for alcohol is different, and it takes experience to find your limit and recognize when you are surpassing it. However, there is one important piece of information that everyone should know that will help you avoid overindulging–how long it takes your body to process alcohol.
To really understand your tolerance, you need to understand how your body processes alcohol. Once alcohol has been consumed approximately twenty percent of it is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. The remaining eighty percent has be absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestines; that takes time.
Just how long it takes alcohol to enter into your bloodstream is determined by a lot of factors. The most important ones are age, weight, how often you consume alcohol, when you last ate and what you consumed. That’s why you may be able to drink some nights than others.
On average, it takes a person about an hour to process one drink of alcohol. In this context, we are defining one drink the traditional way: 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine and 1.5 oz of hard liquor.
Most people’s blood-alcohol content will rise 0.015 percent for every ounce of alcohol that they consume. That means that every hour, your liver can process roughly that same amount. The legal driving limit in the United States is a blood-alcohol content of 0.08, which means that it takes the average person 5.5 hours to go from the legal limit back down to 0.
If you do plan on drinking a lot there are a few things you can do to help your body process the alcohol and avoid a horrible hangover. Of course, the only way to truly avoid a hangover is to not overindulge.
One of the most effective methods to help your body process alcohol better is to consume probiotic-heavy foods. Foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha are all good options. As it turns out, probiotic bacteria play a crucial role in helping your body process toxins. Since alcohol is actually a toxin, having all that healthy bacteria around will make sure everything is running smoothly.
Green tea is an age old method of helping your body process alcohol more quickly. Green tea is actually very high in antioxidants, specifically a kind of antioxidant that protects your liver from alcohol damage and speeds up the detoxification process of alcohol in your body.
Finally, and most importantly, drink a lot of water. The primary impetus behind the most egregious hangover symptoms is dehydration. Unfortunately, the process of metabolizing alcohol continues to dehydrate your system. By continuing to drink water and stay hydrated you will help mitigate your hangover symptoms and speed up your bodies metabolization process.
Hopefully this information helps you to better pace yourself whenever you are out drinking. For the days where you don’t, there is always Primer by Intelligent Drinking. We always keep a few packets handy to help us reclaim our mornings. Visit. wwww.intelligentdrinking.com to learn more.