Most people know that a night of drinking will probably cause them to wake up with a hangover in the morning. However, the devastating effects that alcohol can have on the human body are often underestimated. Understanding the science of alcohol and how it works will make it easier for people to understand how this one beverage can wreak havoc on a person’s body.
When you drink, the alcohol will go down to your esophagus, into the stomach and then it will eventually enter the small intestines. The process of getting drunk actually starts with the alcohol entering the esophagus, stomach and then the intestines. Your intestinal walls are very porous.
This means that any alcohol that is not absorbed by the food in the intestines or stomach will enter the bloodstream. Your circulatory system works very fast. Once alcohol enters your bloodstream, you will probably feel the effects of it very quickly. It takes awhile for your body to process alcohol.
That is why breathalyzers are a very effective tool for determining whether a person is legally intoxicated. Breathalyzers do not measure how much alcohol you have drunk. They are measuring how much alcohol is entering your lungs from the circulatory system and then going from the lungs back into the circulatory system. This is where the term “blood alcohol” comes in.