Effects of Alcohol on the Body
Ever wondered what is really happening inside your body when you drink a little alcohol? The touch of alcohol to your lips and mouth has the first effect. The alcohol is an anesthetic that starts to sink into the lining of the mouth and throat. Then it moves to the stomach.
While many people think the stomach breaks everything down and sends it where it needs to go, that is not the case. Your stomach only absorbs about 20 percent of the alcohol you take in.
The rest moves into the small intestine. This is where it really gets to work in your body. The alcohol goes through the wall of the small intestine and is absorbed into the blood stream.
Those travels will eventually take it to the brain, where the alcohol will start to intoxicate you. Absorption into different parts of the brain will show different effects. For example, the frontal lobe is in charge of reason and inhibitions. When alcohol gets here, this is when people start showing reckless behavior they may not regularly exhibit. Other portions of the brain control reaction time, balance, clear vision. All of these areas can be affected by alcohol. Thus, many of the stumbling, speech slurring and slow-reacting effects we see in those who are intoxicated.
How much alcohol will affect one person, and for how long can depend on a number of factors from the person's metabolism rate, to the kinds of alcohol consumed, over what time period and whether or not they had anything to eat before hand or during their drinking.
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