Why does alcohol work so fast?

Answer 1

Alcohol is a drug that enters the bloodstream without being broken down in the stomach by the digestive system. Therefore alcohol gets to the brain quickly (unless there is enough food in the stomach to slow it down). When an alcoholic beverage is swallowed, it is diluted by gastric juices in the stomach. A small portion of the alcohol is diffused into the bloodstream directly from the stomach wall, but most passes through the pyloric junction into the small intestine, where it is very rapidly absorbed. However, up to half the alcohol is degraded in the stomach before it passes into the small intestine. In general, a lower percentage of the alcohol is degraded in a young woman's stomach than in a young man's because a young woman's gastric secretions contain lower levels of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which breaks down alcohol prior to absorption. The rate at which alcohol is absorbed can be affected by a number of factors. For example, a strong alcoholic drink, when taken into an empty stomach, may cause a spasm of the pylorus that will impede passage into the small intestine, resulting in a slower overall rate of absorption. The presence of food in the stomach, especially some fatty foods, will also delay absorption. Naturally carbonated alcohol such as champagne or alcohol taken with a carbonated beverage such as soda water will ordinarily be absorbed more rapidly than noncarbonated alcohol. Other factors, such as the emotional state of the drinker, may also affect the rate of absorption. *just a reminder that the amount of alcohol degraded in the stomach via gastric ADH is usually lower than the main organ of degradation via ADH, the liver. Gastric ADH is found within the stomach cells and not in gastric secretions. So ADH in fact mostly breaks down alcohol AFTER it's been absorbed, not before*