Why Does Alcohol Affect People Differently?
Key takeaways:
Most people feel similar effects when they drink alcohol. The effects can be different based on several factors.
Some of these factors don’t change much for each person, like how your body breaks down alcohol, or your sex, weight, or family history. Other factors can change over time, like your tolerance, the type of drink you’re having, and how quickly you drink it.
Taking steps to consider your factors and drink accordingly can help you stay safe and avoid problems from alcohol.
You may have noticed that not everyone gets drunk at the same rate. A few drinks could leave you feeling tipsy, while your friends could drink much more without even appearing intoxicated. Individual differences and situational factors affect how alcohol affects each person.
Read on to learn which factors influence your intoxication and what you can do to stay safe and lower your risk.
What are the biggest side effects of alcohol?
From the first sip, alcohol causes changes in your body. You probably drink for effects like relaxation, confidence, and increased well-being. Before long, though, the negative side effects emerge.
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Some of the negative side effects of alcohol are:
Slurred speech
Poor judgment
Lack of coordination, balance, and slower reflexes
Emotional changes
Nausea and vomiting
As your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) increases, the effects become more negative. Once your BAC is over 0.15, you could struggle to walk, control your bladder, and remain awake and aware.
How does metabolism work when it comes to the effects of alcohol?
The metabolic rate refers to how quickly your body can process and remove alcohol. Your metabolic rate lowers your BAC.
Someone with a quick rate can drink more alcohol because their body efficiently removes it. Someone with a slow rate will feel more intoxicated.
Several factors like biology, sex, and body weight impact your metabolic rate.
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Does sex and gender impact intoxication?
When men and women drink the same amount, women tend to experience greater effects. This difference is due to enzymes in the body that break down alcohol. Men have more of these enzymes overall, which makes them able to process and remove alcohol from the body faster. Also, men tend to be leaner with higher levels of total body water.
How do body size and composition affect alcohol’s effects?
Apart from sex, your body mass and composition will affect how drunk you feel. Since fat does not absorb alcohol, people with more muscle mass can drink more without noticing the effects of alcohol as drastically.
As people age, they tend to have less muscle and more fat. So, older people may feel the effects of alcohol more strongly.
Will your genetics and ethnicity affect how you handle alcohol?
Having a history of alcoholism in your family could affect your metabolic rate. Children of people with alcohol use disorders have a greater risk of experiencing alcohol-related issues.
Similarly, some ethnicities have slower metabolic rates due to lower enzyme levels. People of Asian and Native American descent will experience higher feelings of intoxication.
When you combine these effects, you can see the huge differences in metabolic rates. A man who weighs 185 lb and a woman who weighs 130 lb can each have 3 drinks in an hour. But the woman’s BAC will be two times higher than the man’s.
What environmental factors affect how alcohol makes you feel?
Factors like your heredity and ethnicity are consistent. But your environmental factors change constantly. Some environmental factors that contribute to your intoxication are the food in your stomach, what you are drinking, and how you drink it. We’ll go over each of these factors below.
How does food affect intoxication?
When you have food in your stomach, it slows the absorption of alcohol into the system. The slow absorption allows the liver to process the drink in a timely way.
Without food in the stomach, alcohol reaches the liver more quickly. The liver can only process one drink each hour, though, so it becomes overloaded and backed up.
Will mixing other drugs with alcohol affect intoxication?
You have to be really careful when drinking to make sure it’s not interacting with the other substances you’re taking. Over-the-counter and prescription medications — as well as other drugs — can all impact how drunk you feel.
Stimulant drugs speed you up. They will not change your BAC. But they make you feel less drunk. Some drugs that cover up your intoxication are:
Other drugs slow you down and increase the effects of alcohol. These substances include:
Opioids
Cannabis (marijuana)
Over-the-counter cold and flu medications
Over-the-counter pain medications
You should also avoid taking antibiotics with alcohol as it can result in some unwanted effects.
Does the type of drink and the rate of drinking affect intoxication?
Drinking a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time is going to make you feel intoxicated very quickly, regardless of what you drink. Chugging is dangerous because you may not realize how drunk you are until well after your last drink.
The choice of drink makes a difference as well. Carbonated drinks force your body to absorb the alcohol more quickly. Drinks that speed up absorption include:
Soft drinks like colas
Tonic waters
Champagne
Wine coolers
Energy drinks
What health issues can change how alcohol affects you?
The way you feel mentally and physically will impact how alcohol affects you. Being sick or fatigued can lead to dehydration, which increases your BAC.
Being stressed, anxious, or depressed may decrease your enzyme levels. So, if your mental health is suffering, you could feel more drunk than you normally would.
Finally, your hormones will also affect your response to alcohol. The way alcohol affects you can depend on your menstrual cycle or being on birth control.
What is tolerance and how does it affect intoxication?
A person with high tolerance needs to drink more alcohol to feel its effects. Functional tolerance is produced over time as you drink large amounts of alcohol. In response, your brain takes action to make you feel less intoxicated.
You may think tolerance is a good outcome or something to be proud of. But it is usually the sign of a developing problem with alcohol. Plus, tolerance does not change your (BAC). Even though you’ll feel more coordinated and in control, you are still impaired. This can be particularly problematic if you feel like you can drive.
How can you determine what’s a safe amount for you to drink?
For an average person, one standard drink increases your BAC by 0.02. Two drinks in 1 hour will increase your BAC to 0.04.
Keep in mind that the most desirable effects of alcohol happen below a BAC of 0.05. So, two drinks might be the safest amount to drink.
The only way to lower BAC is to let time pass. Your body will process the alcohol at a rate of one drink per hour only. Any other drinks you have within that time period will only increase your BAC to an uncomfortable level.
Ultimately, there is no “safe” level of alcohol. Any amount can have unwanted effects on your physical and mental health. But if you drink with an understanding of your factors, you can increase your safety.
The bottom line
It’s true that alcohol affects different people in different ways. The effects can come from stable factors like genetics and ethnicity. Or they can come from changing factors like the amount of food in your stomach. Regardless, the impact of alcohol is unique for everyone. Do your best to understand the influence of alcohol and your factors to maintain safe and healthy habits.
If you or someone you know struggles with substance use, help is available. Call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) to learn about resources in your area.
Why trust our experts?
References
Australian Government, Department of Health. (2021). What are the effects of alcohol?
Bowling Green State University. (n.d.). Factors that affect intoxication.
School Drug Education and Road Aware. (n.d.). Factors that affect a person’s BAC.
Stanford Children’s Health. (2022). Understanding alcohol's effects.
Stanford University. (n.d.). Factors that affect how alcohol is absorbed and metabolized.
University of Notre Dame. (2022) Absorption rate factors.
