Alcohol PhysiologyAlcohol Physiology

Wines, beers, and spirits all contain CH3 CH2 OH – ethyl alcohol – also

called ethanol.

The alcohol is produced by fermentation, in which yeast

enzymes decompose carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and ethanol.

The carbohydrate source in wines is the sugars in fruits

or berries (usually grapes); in beers, its grains.

In spirits, the carbohydrate source is also grains, but spirits differ in that they are put through an additional

process, in which the alcoholic beverage is distilled from the

fermented carbohydrate material.

Although ethyl alcohol is the chief ingredient of all potable

alcoholic beverages, very small amounts of amyl, butyl, propyl,

and methyl alcohol also find their way into some beverages.

You’ll also find congeners – acids, aldehydes, esters, ketones,

phenols, and tannins – along with occasional vitamins and minerals.

The various combination of these substances – especially the

congeners – produce the characteristic flavors, odors, and

colors that differentiate one alcoholic beverage from one another.

Alcohol was believed to be the active ingredient in the healing powers of wine. Up to that time, the word “alcohol” was applied

as a generic term to any product derived through

vaporization and condensation.

Its origin from the Arabic word al-kuhl refers to the Arab practice of

producing a black powder by condensing a vapour of the metal antimony. The powder was then

used as eye make-up, which is why eye-liner is still occasionally known

as kohl.

It was not until some time during the 16th century that

“alcohol” was used specifically in reference to

distilled spirits.

An ounce of 100-proof bourbon (or other 100-proof hard liquor), for

example, contains as much alcohol as 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of

wine, or three ounces of sherry.

Take a drink, and the alcohol is immediately absorbed into your bloodstream. Unlike most other

substances you ingest, alcohol does not require digestion before it is

absorbed and circulated.

While it circulates throughout the body, alcohol is diffused in

proportion to the water content of the various tissues and organs,

appearing in greatest concentration in the blood and the brain.

Just as it is quick to soak the alcohol up, your body wastes little time in

starting to eliminate the substance. Some alcohol – very little – is

exhaled, and a slightly larger amount is secreted in sweat.

Even more is excreted by the kidneys and soon finds its way out in urine. Nevertheless, no more than 10 percent of the alcohol is eliminated through breathing,

sweating and urination.

The rest – at least 90 percent – is processed

metabolically, chiefly by the liver.

In the liver, enzymes convert the alcohol to acetate, which enters the bloodstream and is eventually transformed into

carbon dioxide and water and then disposed of.

In a man of average size, about half an ounce of alcohol – the equivalent

of an ounce of hard liquor, a 12-ounce bottle of beer, or a 4-ounce glass of wine- can be metabolized

(processed and eliminated) per hour.

If you drink more than one drink per hour, unprocessed alcohol will

accumulate in the bloodstream and continually affect the organs,

particularly the brain.

Example: an average-sized man drinks four ounces of 100-proof bottled-in-bond whiskey within an hour. This will put 1 ½

ounces of alcohol in his body, and, by the end of the hour, the concentration of alcohol in his blood will be 0.07 percent.

If he continuous to drink- another four ounces in the next

hour – the blood alcohol concentration will rise to 0.11

percent.

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), sometimes called Blood

Alcohol Level (BAL), is the concentration of alcohol in the blood, expressed as the weigh of alcohol in a fixed volume of blood. It is used as an

objective measure of intoxication.

Immediate Effects of Alcohol Consumption:

BAC (percent): Probable Effect:

0.05 Loss of inhibitions; clouded judgment0.10 Impairment of coordination; staggering; slurred

speech; visual impairment0.20 Senses dulled; loss of control over emotions0.30 Blackout; possible loss of consciousness0.35 - 0.45 Coma; possible death0.60 Death

Alcoholic Beverages

An alcoholic beverage (also known as booze in slang term) is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol,

although in chemistry the definition of alcohol includes

many other compounds.

Ethanol is a centrally-acting drug with a depressant effect, and many societies regulate or

restrict its sale and consumption

Ethanol is only slightly toxic compared to other alcohols, but

has significant psychoactive effects at sublethal doses.

A significant blood alcohol content may be considered

legal drunkenness as it reduces attention, lengthens reaction time and lowers inhibitions.

Alcoholic beverages are addictive when consumed

repeatedly or in high doses and the state of addiction to ethanol

is known as alcoholism.

Alcoholic Content

The concentration of alcohol in a drink may be specified in

percent alcohol by volume (ABV), in percentage by weight (sometimes abbreviated w/w for weight for weight), or in

proof.

Most yeasts cannot grow when the concentration of alcohol is higher

than about 18% by volume, so that is a practical limit for the strength of

fermented beverages such as wine, beer, and sake.

Strains of yeast have been developed that can survive in solutions of up to 25%

alcohol by volume, but these were bred for ethanol fuel production, not beverage

production. Spirits are produced by distillation of a fermented product,

concentrating the alcohol and eliminating some of the by-products.

Fortified wines are produced by adding brandy or other distilled

spirits to achieve higher ABV than is easily reached using

fermentation alone.

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