If alcohol is absorbed very quickly by the body, the blood alcohol level reaches its maximum in 30 minutes on an empty stomach and in one hour during a meal. Conversely, its elimination by the body requires much more time…
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[EN VIDÉO] Kézako: how is alcohol made? Alcohol is a class of chemicals, so there are several types. Whether it is intended to be consumed as a drink or used as an industrial product, its manufacture is different. Unisciel and the University of Lille 1 explain to us, with the Kézako program, the different processes.
Once absorbed, thealcohol passes into the blood before being eliminated gradually by the liver.
Widmark’s line and elimination of alcohol by the liver
The blood alcohol level then decreases by 0.1 g to 0.15 g per hour, according to a rhythm defined by the “Widmark line”. This, in fact, varies significantly from one individual to another.
By successive phenomena, the liver transforms the alcohol into acetaldehyde and then into acetate. It then enters the energy cycle (hello calories !) then is finally transformed into water and carbon dioxide.
Calculation of alcohol elimination time
To make your calculations and know when you can get back behind the wheel, you must start from the moment when the maximum blood alcohol level is reached (i.e. 30 minutes after absorption if you are on an empty stomach, one hour if you have drunk during a meal) and not when the last drink was drunk.
No miracle recipe can accelerate the elimination ofalcohol. No need to swallow a strong coffee (even salty), to take an aspirin tablet or to drink several glasses water – except to quench your thirst. Practice an exercise physical will mainly allow you to lose water, not to lower your blood alcohol level. Only a tiny part of thealcohol ingested evaporates through perspiration. Finally, exposure to cold is also without effect, except to cause a loss of heat. The only remedy is time.
Source: Road safety ; Federation of players in alcoholism and addictology.
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