“When I drink alcohol everyone says I am alcoholic. But when I drink Fanta, no one says I am fantastic.” If this is you after a couple of drinks, it is time you start to mend your drinking habits. Or, at least have a little idea of how long does alcohol stay in your blood before you stop talking things like this. As a matter of fact, it is always a good idea to know how long alcohol stays in your blood, urine, and system so that you can get back to normal without having to worry about anything just in case you have to go for a test.
And, this is exactly what we are going to talk about in this post. We are going to shed some light on this topic so that you can judge how and when to drink in order to stay safe and away from the embarrassment of getting labeled as an alcoholic or an uncontrollable drinker.
This blog is going to give you a clear idea of how alcohol works on your body and your system in order to show its effect, how long does it stay in your body before it is excreted and how to get alcohol out of your system for a urine test?
So, without beating too much around the bush, let us straight away get to the point –
Alcohol And Its Effect
In order to delve into the understanding of how alcohol gets out of our body, we need to, first of all, understand how it effects our body. To begin with, you must know that alcohol, unlike other stuff that we consume i.e. food items and eatables, does not require any breakdown before its digestion begins.
It is digested directly without any breakdown process. And, the process takes place in the liver. As a matter of fact, when you consume alcohol, it is transported to the brain via the bloodstream directly through the tissue that lines the stomach.
Once alcohol reaches the bloodstream, its effect begins to kick in. it is estimated that for a healthy process, this can take somewhere between 45-50 minutes. Before you know about how long does alcohol stay in urine or blood for that matter, it is important to know how alcohol effects your system. Here’s how –
Slurred speech and impaired coordination
As it is quite commonly observed, a high dose of alcohol generally leads to the initial signs like slurred speech, which is generally matched with impaired coordination, and lack of judgment. Therefore, if you start to feel any of these effects, you know you are drunk!
Lowered inhibitions and confusion
Another common associated with alcohol consumption is a state of confusion. You generally have no idea what’s happening around and you are unable to remember things. As a matter of fact, you inhibiting powers are lowered to quite a large extent.
Breathing problems
In the worst-case scenarios, when too much alcohol has reached your system, you are at potential risk of breathing problems as well. This is the reason that knowing how much to drink and how long does alcohol stay in your blood becomes quite important.
It’s not the same for everyone!
One important thing to remember here is that the effect of alcohol may vary from person to person. As a matter of fact, it is different in males and females. The effect of alcohol on a female of same body weight would be higher when compared to a male. The major reason behind this difference of effect is the body chemistry. Same is the case with people of different body weights, living habits and mental states.
Therefore you can never really predict how many drinks are sufficient for someone before they actually get knocked out with alcohol. However, we can still predict how long alcohol stays in your blood and urine!
How Long Does Alcohol Stay In Your Blood?
Generally, what research studies say, alcohol can be detected in the blood urine for 12 hours (or even less) after the person has taken his / her last drink. This means that if you have consumed alcohol within last 12 hours, it is going to reflect in your test. Hence, if you are going for any medical examination or any other physical examination, you cannot afford to consume alcohol for at least 12 hours prior to the test.
Although, there have been quite a few advancements made in the field of technology wherein researchers have found ways to detect alcohol metabolites in the blood even after 5-7 days of last consumption.
How To Get Alcohol Out Of Your System Quickly?
Moving to the most important part – how can you get rid of it (if you can) from your system before going for the test. The answer to this question is a big NO! You cannot do anything to eliminate alcohol from your system faster. You might have heard recommendations like drinking more water or coffee can help you reduce the effect alcohol. That’s correct – but this does not mean it eliminates it from the system. These things make you more alert until your body is worn off from the effect of alcohol, but it, by no means, eliminates alcohol from your system.
Conclusion:
As you can see, generally alcohol remains in blood for up to 6 hours, where if we talk about how long does alcohol stay in your urine, the time duration is approximately 12-24 hours (newer methods can detect easily for up to 72 hours). And, its effect can be visible quite evidently during this duration.
Therefore, if you don’t want to feel embarrassed or get in trouble (just in case you are going for a test), it is always a good idea to stay away from alcohol for at least the above mentioned time durations. Or else you might end up making fun of yourself and your drinking habits, which you certainly would not want. Rest, it entirely depends upon your personal choice!
