How Long Does Alcohol Stay In Your System?

Monitoring how much alcohol you drink and how that alcohol affects your body can be a difficult thing to do. There are a lot of myths about how to get alcohol out of your system quickly and sober up, but are any of them really effective? The truth is that alcohol stays in your system much longer than you probably expect, and an alcohol test can give a positive result with just a hint of alcohol left in your bloodstream. Before choosing to drink, it is important to realize how alcohol long alcohol stays in your system.

How much is one drink?

Different types of alcohol contain different amounts of pure alcohol. For example, while one 12 ounce beer has 5% alcohol, 12 ounces of wine may have 12% alcohol. This means that "one drink" of wine is considerably smaller than one beer. For liquor, only one ounce is considered to be a drink.

It takes about an hour for your body to metabolize what is considered to be one drink. So, while one 12 ounce beer will take an hour to metabolize, if you take two shots of vodka, your body will take two hours to metabolize the alcohol.

An alcohol test can detect alcohol in the urine, saliva, blood, sweat, hair follicles, and your breath. Some of these tests show only a positive or negative result, so any alcohol in the system is considered to be just that. You either have alcohol in your system, or you don't. It does not matter how much.

Blood Alcohol Concentration 

There are scientific ways understand how intoxicated your body is based on your body type. Your blood alcohol content (also referred to as BAC) refers to the percentage of pure alcohol that is making up your bloodstream. For example, if you have a BAC of .10, it means 1% of your entire bloodstream is pure alcohol.

So, how do these numbers affect you? With a BAC of .04, people often begin to feel the effects of alcohol. They likely feel relaxed and are beginning to wind down. Driving is already impaired at this point. At .08, you are considered to be legally intoxicated in most states. With a BAC of .12, most people's bodies begin to purge the alcohol through vomiting. As the numbers rise, this may lead to the loss of consciousness and at a BAC of .45, the alcohol content is likely fatal.

Knowing how your body tolerates alcohol at each BAC makes it a bit easier to understand how many drinks are in a healthy range for your body. BAC charts are separated by sex, as males typically have more water held in their bodies, leading to a higher tolerance of alcohol. Women's bodies also contain significantly lower amounts of the enzyme in their stomach that breaks down alcohol than men.

Although alcohol does go through the digestive system, it does not require digestion. Once it is consumed, 20% of the alcohol goes directly to the blood vessels and carried to the brain. The rest of the alcohol goes into the bloodstream after it is absorbed by the small intestines.

If you drink on a full stomach, you can keep your BAC lower than if you drink on an empty stomach. The food in the stomach absorbs alcohol and prevents it from quickly entering the small intestine. However, in order to keep alcohol from reaching the bladder, it can't enter your bloodstream at all.

Factors Affecting How Long Alcohol Stays in Your System

Once alcohol is in the bloodstream, it is metabolized in the liver. People become intoxicated from alcohol at various rates and amount, but a healthy liver will metabolize alcohol at the same rate for everyone. This is regardless of weight, sex, or race. However, the liver's metabolization of the alcohol is only one of the factors that determine how quickly the alcohol exits the body.

Some other factors that affect the rate of alcohol leaving the body include:

• Speed of alcohol consumption
• Body fat content
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Amount of food in the stomach
• Current medications

The process of alcohol leaving the system can vary when someone drinks faster than their liver is able to metabolize it. Specifically, once the BAC surpasses 0.055, the body tissues and blood begin to absorb the excess alcohol, leading to the common signs of severe intoxication such as depression, nausea, irritability, vomiting, memory loss, and disorientation.

What happens during alcohol testing?

There are several types of alcohol tests that can be administered, depending on the situation. For example, if you are in a medical setting being tested for intoxication, you will likely give a blood sample. However, if you are pulled over in a car and suspected of having alcohol in your system, you will probably be given a breath test. Regardless of the type of test, most tests are looking for the presence of one of two chemicals, which are ethanol or EtG.

Ethanol Test

While almost all alcohol is metabolized by the liver, 2-8% of the alcohol consumed exits the body through sweat, urine, and breath. Ethanol is the type of alcohol that is found in beverages, which can be detected after the alcohol has exited the body.

Ethanol urine tests have factors that make them less accurate than other tests. This is partly because the urine's alcohol concentration lags behind the blood concentration, and also ethanol is naturally present in the body with bacteria.

So, for example, if you have a yeast infection, your body may naturally contain enough ethanol to result in a false positive. False positives are even more likely if a urine sample remains at room temperature for a prolonged period of time, giving the microorganisms a chance to create more alcohol by fermenting glucose.

To help reduce the number of false positives, you may be required to give a second urine sample thirty minutes after the first one. This way, the professionals can see if the levels have decreased. 

EtG Test

EtG stands for ethyl glucuronide, which is created when the liver metabolizes alcohol. This type of test is usually used in situations where timing is not an issue, such as when one has alcoholism and is required to avoid alcohol completely. EtG remains in the system much longer than ethanol.

EtG tests are much more accurate than ethanol tests, however, when time is of the essence, they are not helpful. If someone is suspected of driving under the influence, an EtG test may give a positive result when the person actually hasn't had a drink in over 24 hours.

Different Types of Tests

Urine Test

Alcohol is typically present in the urine for 12-36 hours, however, some tests can detect up to 48 hours. This depends on how much alcohol was consumed. The most developed urine tests are able to detect alcohol for up to 80 hours following the last drink.

With an ethanol urine test, it can take up to 2 hours for alcohol to show up because it takes time for the body to filter the alcohol out of the blood and into the bladder. Once it is there, however, even a very small amount of alcohol can be detected for about an hour and a half.

Breathalyzer 

Alcohol can be detected on the breath with a breathalyzer for up to 24 hours following the last drink.

Other Tests

Alcohol can be detected in hair follicles for about three months after the last drink. In a saliva swab, it can be detected for up to 24 hours.

Risks of Acquiring an Alcohol Problem

Because of the widespread abuse of alcohol, alcohol-related deaths are one of the top leading causes of preventable death. Death often occurs during an alcohol-related accident, but can also be caused by liver failure.

Being aware of how alcohol is metabolized in the body and keeping track of your BAC can help prevent over-intoxication and perhaps accidental death. Knowing how your body handles alcohol can also help prevent your body from building a tolerance to alcohol, leading to an alcohol problem or alcoholism.

If you or a loved one are suffering from alcoholism, please reach out to Alo House Recovery Centers in Malibu.