The Consumption of Alcohol and its Effects on the Body :: Alcohol Health Drug Abuse Essays

The economic enjoyment of Alcohol and its effectuate on the Body Alcohol, probably the oldest drug known, has been utilize at least since the earliest societies for which records exist. Of the numerous emblems of intoxicant, ethyl alcohol is the suit consumed in drinking. In its pure form it is a clear warmness with little odor. People drink alcohol in three master(prenominal) kinds of beverages BEERS, which atomic number 18 made from grain through brewing and fermentation and assume from 3% to 8% alcohol WINES, which are fermented from fruits such as grapes and restrain from 8% to 12% alcohol naturally, and up to 21% when fortified by adding alcohol and distilled beverages (spirits) such as WHISKEY, GIN, and VODKA, which on the average deal from 40% to 50% alcohol. Drinkers may become addicted to any of these beverages. Physical Effects of Alcohol The effects of alcohol on the human body search on the amount of alcohol in the blood (blood-alcohol tautness). This varie s with the regularise of consumption and with the rate at which the drinkers physical system absorbs and metabolizes alcohol. The higher the alcohol national of the beverage consumed, the more alcohol will enter the bloodstream. The amount and type of food in the stomach also affect the absorption rate. inebriety when the stomach is filled is less intoxicating than when it is empty the foods in the stomach, which contain fat and protein, delay alcohol absorption. Body weight is also a factor the heavier the person, the slower the absorption of alcohol. After alcohol passes through the stomach, it is speedily absorbed through the walls of the intestines into the bloodstream and carried to the various organ systems of the body, where it is metabolized. Although small amounts of alcohol are processed by the kidneys and secreted in the urine, and other small amounts are processed through the lungs and exhaled in the breath, most of the alcohol is metabolized by the liver. As the alc ohol is metabolized, it gives off heat. The body metabolizes alcohol at about the rate of three-fourths of an ounce to one ounce of whiskey an hour. Technically it is potential to drink at the same rate as the alcohol is beingness oxidized out of the body. Most people, however, drink faster than this, and so the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream keeps rising. Alcohol begins to impair the brains ability to voice when the blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) reaches 0.