Buzz
Even if you're old enough to enjoy alcoholic beverages on your own or have seen the effects alcohol can have on others, drinking alcohol will make people intoxicated. But what does this mean? What chemical in these drinks can alter a person's ability to control their own body? That would be a component called ethanol, with a chemical formula of C2H5OH.Ethanol is produced when yeast ferments sugars found in fruits, grains, and vegetables. Different alcoholic products are named based on the source of the alcohol. Gin is made from fermenting grains like wheat and barley, while vodka uses sugars from potatoes or grains, and wine is made from grapes.
Overall, a young woman will have a higher blood alcohol concentration than a young man after drinking the same amount of alcohol.While alcohol is produced industrially to serve humans, it also occurs naturally in nature. Humans are not the only species to drink alcohol. Many animals consume fermented foods and unintentionally or intentionally get drunk. Each species has evolved to handle different amounts of alcohol. For example, the pen-tailed treeshrew has the highest alcohol tolerance in the world, allowing them to consume large amounts of fermented plant material as a food source. Meanwhile, humans may face serious health risks and even death if we exceed the limits of our bodies. From fun to harmful, this is how alcohol makes us intoxicated.
1. As soon as alcohol enters the mouth, some of it will enter the bloodstream through the blood vessels in the mouth and tongue.2. About 20% of alcohol enters the bloodstream in the stomach. If the stomach is full of food, the process will occur more slowly.3. The remaining alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine.
One of the first brain regions affected by alcohol is the cerebral cortex, which can result in confusion.Drinking alcohol significantly affects the brain and can create both pleasant and unpleasant sensations. The stages of alcohol's impact on this organ depend on the individual and the amount they drink. Euphoria is the initial stage of intoxication, and is a reason why alcohol consumption is common despite some negative health effects. During this stage, hormones released in the brain can make you feel more confident and relaxed.When your blood alcohol concentration reaches between 0.09 to 0.25, you're classified as 'legally drunk'. At this stage, an intoxicated person may become more easily agitated. The frontal, rear, and side lobes of the brain are affected and can cause slurred speech or blurred vision. If someone drinks a large amount of alcohol, they may become disoriented, and in some cases, experience short-term memory loss. This is because the hippocampus - the brain region responsible for creating new memories - is impaired. The nerve pathways in this brain region are slowed down by alcohol. Subsequent stages become more severe and concerning, as the brain eventually becomes unable to sustain vital organ function. When a person's blood alcohol concentration reaches from 0.25 to 0.35, the body is at risk of alcohol poisoning, coma, and death.
Elephants do not have a mutated ADH7 gene like humans and many other mammalian species. This means that regardless of their enormous size, elephants can become intoxicated from just a relatively small amount of fermented fruit compared to their body size.
Honey bees can get intoxicated after drinking fermented tree sap and nectar. In many cases, these bees are unable to return to their hive after consuming ethanol. Sometimes they return but are not allowed back into the hive.
Fermented berries in winter can make birds eating them intoxicated. The Bohemian Waxwing (a species of bird in the Bombycillidae family. They live and breed in forests across the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America. They have mainly gray plumage, black masks, and pointed crests. Their wings have bright white and yellow bands, and the wingtips are red) is one such species. Most become drunk but remain in control, but some overindulge in alcohol-laden berries and cannot fly straight.According to How It Works magazine issue 164
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