This makes it difficult to perform activities that require skill and concentration, or where the safety of others is involved. You may feel like you’re ok, but your reaction times will be slower than normal, and your concentration will be reduced. Why does my BAC matter?Įven very small amounts of alcohol can affect your concentration, judgement, and performance. Check out our page on Standard Drinks for more info. The higher the amount of alcohol, the higher your BAC is likely to be. Not all drinks have the same amount of alcohol in them. If you’re taking any medications talk to your doctor or pharmacist about whether you can drink alcohol. If you drink while taking these medications (e.g., contraceptive pills), your liver will be slower at processing alcohol, leading to a higher BAC. Many medicines need to be broken down by the liver, just like alcohol. Medication can affect how your body breaks down alcohol. Your body isn’t used to it and as a result, your BAC could be higher. If you don’t have a lot of experience with drinking, your tolerance will be lower. Lower levels of this enzyme means alcohol will be broken down more slowly and will remain in the blood for longer. People assigned female at birth generally have a higher percentage of body fat, lower levels of water in the body, and less of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, compared to people assigned male at birth. This means alcohol can stay longer in your blood and increase your BAC. This is because your liver and water content can get smaller as you age. 3 AgeĪs you age, there is a slight decline in how quickly your body processes alcohol. Someone with liver disease or liver damage won’t be able to process the alcohol as quickly as people with healthier livers. Your liver does most of the work breaking down alcohol. People with higher levels of body fat can have higher levels of BAC.

This means alcohol isn’t absorbed and sits in your bloodstream until your liver breaks it down. Our fat cells hold much less water than muscle.

But, eating a meal won’t stop you from getting drunk or mean you’re safe to drive. 2 If you don’t eat before drinking, it’s likely you’ll get drunk sooner. Empty stomachĭrinking on an empty stomach causes the alcohol to be absorbed into your bloodstream quickly. This means you don’t need many drinks to go over the limit. Typically, alcohol concentration is higher in people who are smaller. Let’s take a look at each of these factors in more detail, below. Your blood alcohol levels can be influenced by:

Bac stands for blood alcohol contant or