Bartenders and customers should both know that there are eleven factors that can affect a person’s BAC. BAC stands for Blood Alcohol Content, which means the amount of alcohol that has been absorbed into the bloodstream and is represented as a percentage. Factors that can effect a person’s BAC include: rate of consumption, drink strength, body type, body size, body fat, gender, age, a person’s emotional state, medications, food and carbonation.
Rate of Consumption
Have you ever noticed after you have a drink, you don’t feel the affects right away? You then decide to take a shot or two because you just aren’t feeling “it” yet. Twenty minutes later, it hits you like a brick wall: you’re drunk. The rate of consumption all depends on the rate at which the alcohol is entering the bloodstream. If a person has more than one drink in an hour, there will be a buildup in that person’s bloodstream. The buildup will essentially raise a person’s BAC.
Drink Strength
The more alcohol a drink contains, the more alcohol that will end up in the bloodstream and the higher the BAC will be for that person. Not all liquors and alcohol are created equal. Distilled liquor (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, etc) has a larger percentage of alcohol by volume than fermented liquor (beer or wine). The “proof” is the measurement of the liquor’s strength. If you divide the proof in half, this will give you the percentage of alcohol that is inside the liquor. For example, if I have a bottle of Bacardi 151, the “151” is stating the proof of the alcohol. If I divide the proof in half (151/2), than 75.5% of the Bacardi 151 is all alcohol.
Body Type/Body Size
I have seen this same scenario a number of times during my bartending career. A couple walks up to the bar. The woman is considerably smaller than her male counterpart. The woman orders a drink and the man orders a drink and shot because he wants to make sure they are on the same “buzzed” level when they start feeling the affects of their alcohol. Smaller people will have a higher BAC than a large person because smaller people have less blood in their body to dilute the alcohol. Since the girlfriend is smaller than her boyfriend, she has less blood in her body to dilute the alcohol, therefore she will more than likely feel the affects of her drink sooner.
Body Fat
Body fat doesn’t absorb alcohol. Therefore a person with higher body fat is going to have a higher BAC than a person who has less body fat. Since body fat cannot absorb alcohol, it instead forces the alcohol to remain in the bloodstream until the liver can break it down. The liver can only break down about one alcoholic drink per hour. The longer the alcohol remains in a person’s bloodstream, the longer they will feel drunk.
Gender
Women tend to have a higher BAC than men do. This is because women have a higher percentage of body fat and a smaller amount of a stomach enzyme that helps break down alcohol. Women also have less blood than men do because they are smaller in size.
Age
Ever wonder why when you first turned 21, your tolerance for alcohol seemed a lot higher? The longer it took the inevitably feel the affects of alcohol, the more alcohol you probably consumed. Body fat tends to increase with age and enzyme action tends to slow down as a person gets older. And as I said before, body fat doesn’t absorb alcohol and the more body fat a person has, the higher their BAC will be.
Emotional State
If a person is stressed or angry, they are likely to have a higher BAC than a person who is calm. When a person is under stress or is upset, their body tends to divert blood away from the stomach and small intestines, and instead moves it to the muscles. The reduced blood flow slows down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. The angry or stressed person might not feel the affects of the alcohol immediately and continue drinking. As soon as the person calms down and the blood flow returns to the stomach, the person could experience a sudden increase in their BAC.
Medications
Bartenders should always watch out for customers who may be under the influence of illegal drugs or if someone is taking a prescription medication. Illegal drugs and medications can increase the affects of alcohol, which can possibly create dangerous interactions. A customer may find it offensive if their bartender asks them if they have taken any illegal drugs or are taking prescription medication. So it’s important for bartenders to pay attention to a customer’s body language. When a customer shows signs of obvious intoxication this can mean that the person is either drunk or under the influence of drugs. If a bartender has previous knowledge that their customer is taking a prescription medication, that bartender should remind the customer that alcohol could greatly increase the affects of alcohol, more so than normal. In situations like these, it always better to be safe than sorry. Bartenders have to use their best judgment.
Food
Bar food is served at various bars for two reasons. One, food increases a customer’s overall tab. The higher a customer’s tab, the more money the bar makes and the higher the tip the customer will leave for the bartender. Another reason why bars serve food is to help prevent customers from becoming overly intoxicated. Food keeps the alcohol in the stomach for a longer period of time. This slows down the rate at which the alcohol reaches the small intestine. If a person hasn’t eaten all day and starts drinking on an empty stomach, they will have a higher BAC than a person who has just eaten a meal. This is because the empty stomach will cause the alcohol to pass more quickly from the stomach to the small intestine.
Carbonation
Drinks with carbonation (sparkling wine/champagne, vodka and tonic, Jack and Coke, etc) may actually speed up the rate at which alcohol passes through the stomach, causing a person to reach a higher BAC at a faster rate.
Source: ServSafe Alcohol (National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation)
Other “Responsible Bartending” Articles:
How to handle drunk customers who want to leave
How to cut off a customer
Food does not sober a person up
What makes a person drunk?
How do you check IDs?
What is the ABC Minor Decoy Program?
What is the ABC?
Comments
re: gender
In Bio 101 I learned that women also have less blood because of menstruation, and I've always wondered if that was the kind of thing they should teach young girls in health class --that they're more likely to become intoxicated after the beginning of their cycle.
But what if I smoked a big fat joint and only had a couple of beeeeeeeeeeeee........
ZZZZZZZZ
:D
J/K, good article, good info.
Yes, yes, yes. I agree with everything. Perhaps if more people knew how, why and how fast alcohol effects them they'd be a bit more understanding when we cut them off. Nice job!
thatz a nicee article =D i agree!!
ohh andd by thee wayy cute face
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