Here’s What Alcohol Does To Your Brain

There are a lot of people, more precisely around 86 percent of the people that drink alcohol from time to time. If the drinking is occasional then it is not a problem, it gets a problem if it becomes heavy drinking.

Alcohol in Your Body

The alcohol is affecting our body quickly, from our stomach it gets absorbed in the bloodstream which is diffusing it in tissues in our body. So for 5 minutes, the alcohol gets in our brain, and the effects of it come in 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes the liver stats to process the alcohol but it can only process 1 ounce on 1 hour. So it takes around 5 and a half hour for the legal limit of drinking (0.08) to leave our organism.

Your Brain on Alcohol

Although our whole body absorbs it, the brain is the most affected because it can affect its communication paths and the processing of information.

The stages of consuming alcohol are the following:

  • In the beginnings, due to the alcohol, there is a bigger release of dopamine, which gives you a pleasurable sensation. During this, you will feel relaxed.
  • Depression, disorientation and memory loss. When the blood alcohol level goes over 0, the euphoria becomes a depression.
  • From around 0.09 to 0.25, you get legally intoxicated. You experience blurred vision, lack of control and slurred speech and hearing. You will also have slower motor skills and slower reactions.
  • From 0.18 to 0.3 it usually includes disorientation. Your cerebellum gets affected and you will need help to walk or stand. You may also experience blackouts or loss of consciousness or memory because the hippocampus is affected too.
  • From 0.25 to 0.40, you may face with symptoms for alcohol poisoning and there is a risk of injury and asphyxiation.
  • From 0.35, there is a risk of going into a coma.
  • From over 0.45 due to alcohol poisoning or failure of the brain.

Drinking and Driving

Many people think they are capable of drinking when they drink. However, the danger is 11 times higher for death in a single-vehicle crash when there is 0.08 alcohol in your blood.

When it is too much?

Everyone reacts differently to the alcohol depending on the age, health, gender and the consumption of it.

The occasional drinkers can recover the next morning however with some bad decisions made like driving a car that night.

The moderate drinkers usually have 1-2 drinks a day, however, the risk of breast cancer is increased in this case, as well as the violence or accidents.

Then the heavy drinking of women is thought to be over 3 drinks a day, or seven drink in a weak, while for the men over 4 drinks a day and 14 drink in a week.


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