Buzz
Why does one drink leave you feeling relaxed, while five leave you nauseous or unconscious?
Wavebreak Media/ThinkstockAlcohol isn’t entirely negative. It can boost your confidence to strike up a conversation with a coworker at the bar or make dancing to Pink’s 'Raise Your Glass' in public feel like the best idea ever.
However, when a mild buzz turns into full-blown intoxication, you might find yourself embodying those 'go home, you’re drunk' memes. Why does one drink feel enjoyable, while six leave you slumped in a cab, devouring fries and struggling to communicate your address to a disinterested driver?
The explanation lies in alcohol—or more specifically, in ethanol, a key component of alcoholic beverages for decades, long before it gained popularity during the era of bootleggers and flappers. Here’s how it leads to intoxication.
Once consumed, the ethanol in alcohol, being water-soluble, travels freely through your body. It enters your digestive system, moves into your bloodstream, crosses cell membranes, and circulates through the heart. It particularly affects the brain, acting as a depressant on the central nervous system. In the brain, ethanol triggers the release of dopamine, creating a sense of pleasure, and interacts with nerve receptors.
Ethanol has a strong affinity for glutamate, a neurotransmitter that typically stimulates neurons. By inhibiting glutamate, ethanol slows the brain's response to stimuli. It also binds to gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), activating these receptors to induce calmness and drowsiness, further slowing brain activity [source: Inglis-Arkell]. Factors like gender, age, weight, and even recent meals influence how quickly one becomes intoxicated [source: Beck].
The liver metabolizes alcohol at a rate of approximately 1 fluid ounce (29 milliliters) per hour, but prolonged exposure can harm the organ. Alcohol is also expelled through urine by the kidneys, exhaled by the lungs, or even released through the skin. In extreme cases, it can be expelled violently through vomiting [sources: Brown University Health Education, Inglis-Arkell].
Consuming a large amount of alcohol—around 1 liter (2 pints) of spirits or four bottles of wine—can severely depress brain function, disrupting critical signals like those controlling breathing and heart rate. Death from alcohol poisoning (acute intoxication) often occurs when the brain fails to maintain vital functions, or when the gag reflex is suppressed, leading to aspiration of vomit and suffocation [sources: Health Promotion Agency, Loyola Marymount University].
