# A quick drunk **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370 "2008-12-16T06:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/41 "2008-12-17T01:35:39Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > take a pair of twins, one a heavy drinker and the other not, same body weight, same food in stomach and give them each the same time to drink the same amount of alcohol and you will have two people with identical BAC levels…the drinker will simply show it less. it seems like you think tolerance has some magical ability to keep your system from absorbing alcohol. > > high tolerance drinkers are the ones who finish a case of beer solo in a few hours and keep on going, low tolerance drinkers usually burn out after a six pack or less. I suppose it depends on how you define “intoxication.” Is it BAC or impairment? Blood alcohol levels may be the same between an occasional and practiced drinker, but the level of impairment will be different. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/42 "2008-12-17T01:42:18Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > take a pair of twins, one a heavy drinker and the other not, same body weight, same food in stomach and give them each the same time to drink the same amount of alcohol and you will have two people with identical BAC levels…the drinker will simply show it less. Wrong. There are 2 components of tolerance, metabolic and functional. Metabolic tolerance means that alcohol is being cleared from the bloodstream more quickly. That means an equivalent rate of alcohol absorption will result in a slower rise in BAC for the tolerant drinker. And the functional component of tolerance means that a given concentration of alcohol is less impairing for the tolerant individual as well. [cite](http://www.rochester.edu/uhs/healthtopics/Alcohol/tolerance.html). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/43 "2008-12-17T02:18:09Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I hope not, because it’s doubly irritating when someone is both pedantic and incorrect. Never mind - you were right and I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/44 "2008-12-17T03:07:42Z")
I don’t know why mixing drinks is bad either, I just know that like **Hazel** , it’s the only time I’ll get sick while drinking - and I’m not a heavy drinker, mixing or not (excepting the occasional binge of my Dad’s finest). ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/45 "2008-12-17T03:34:37Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Wrong. There are 2 components of tolerance, metabolic and functional. Metabolic tolerance means that alcohol is being cleared from the bloodstream more quickly. That means an equivalent rate of alcohol absorption will result in a slower rise in BAC for the tolerant drinker. And the functional component of tolerance means that a given concentration of alcohol is less impairing for the tolerant individual as well. [cite](http://www.rochester.edu/uhs/healthtopics/Alcohol/tolerance.html). so what you are saying is over a long enough time the heavy drinker will clear it from his system faster? ok I can go with that but your second statement kinda is wrong “The second type of tolerance is known as “function tolerance”, and results when a person’s sensitivity to alcohol’s effects is lowered as a result of chronic use. However, it must be noted that while a person’s sensitivity to alcohol’s effects may be decreased, his/her BAC continues to rise.” from your link, they show the effects less but it has no effect on their bac lvl…bac lvl is a direct percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream, again you are assuming some magical effect that tolerance simply doesnt have. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/46 "2008-12-17T03:51:43Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > so what you are saying is over a long enough time the heavy drinker will clear it from his system faster? Not over a long enough time, it’s immediate. If you think of absorbing alcohol in the blood like filling up a glass with whisky, the alcohol-tolerant glass has a small leak in the bottom. It fills more slowly because it’s leaking. Likewise, alcohol enters the blood equally quickly in alcohol tolerance, but it leaves the blood faster because the liver is converting it into acetaldehyde. > [@](#): > > “The second type of tolerance is known as “function tolerance”, and results when a person’s sensitivity to alcohol’s effects is lowered as a result of chronic use. However, it must be noted that while a person’s sensitivity to alcohol’s effects may be decreased, his/her BAC continues to rise.” > > from your link, they show the effects less but it has no effect on their bac lvl…bac lvl is a direct percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream, again you are assuming some magical effect that tolerance simply doesnt have. Wrong. The article absolutely does not say it has no effect on their BAC level. It simply says that BAC rises even though the individual is less sensitive. I also said that the BAC rises… it just does not rise as fast in an alcohol-intolerant individual. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/47 "2008-12-17T04:04:43Z")
nowhere in there does it say it rises slower and nowhere in there does it say the effects are immediate. it defies logic to think that you just instantly “POOF” have a drink and then its gone. where do you get the ideas you are posting? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/48 "2008-12-17T04:20:43Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > nowhere in there does it say it rises slower and nowhere in there does it say the effects are immediate. it defies logic to think that you just instantly “POOF” have a drink and then its gone. where do you get the ideas you are posting? I majored in biology and minored in chem, which included courses in anatomy, physiology, cell biology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. Where are you getting your ideas? Also, I never said anything about “POOF” anything is gone instantly. Just that the metabolic activity is immediate, not delayed. That does not mean it is all metabolized at once. Another [cite](http://www.forcon.ca/learning/alcohol.html): > [@](#): > > The BAC is a measure of the difference between the rates of absorption and elimination. This is a restatement of the hole in the bucket concept. Absorption = alcohol going in. Elimination = alcohol going out (mostly via being metabolized). If elimination is faster, as in a tolerant individual, then the overall BAC cannot increase as quickly. ---
**Author:** ![happiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@happiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happiness)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/49 "2008-12-17T08:07:00Z")
My favorite “get drunk quick” shot is a straight shot of rumpleminze. It’s 100 proof, which places it among the highest proof liquors that you will get in most bars. It’s basically a much higher proof version of peppermint schnapps. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/50 "2008-12-17T10:54:52Z")
> [@glee](#): > > An anecdote for you: > > I went with a bunch of chess players to a Japanese restaurant. Most were slim and didn’t drink much. Before any food arrived, they ordered a couple of rounds of heated sake (I had a diet coke). > Within 5 minutes or so, they were acting silly as if they were mildly intoxicated. > > This ties in with previous suggestions: > > - empty stomachs > - not heavy drinkers > - not heavy people > > I assume the heat may have assisted absorbtion? I seem to remember reading approaching half of all people of east-Asian descent (including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) lack an enzyme necessary for the efficient metabolism of alcohol. This enzyme is known as the low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase isoenzyme. In my time in Korea it was really noticeable that some Korean guys would get buckled after a few glasses of soju. Anecdotal but I seem to recall that some Korean girls could drink beer like no ones business so, I don’t know whether there was a gender element to this enzyme thing. Don’t have time now but could look up a cite if required ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/51 "2008-12-17T11:09:46Z")
Anecdotal, but I knew an Asian girl (sorry, I don’t know her exact ethnicity,) who would literally turn an orangish color after drinking too much. I actually have a picture of her in this state. It’s pretty weird. Has anyone else ever heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370/52 "2008-12-17T11:20:19Z")
[http://www.steadyhealth.com/Asian\_flush\_or\_alcohol\_allergy\_\_Need\_advice\_\_t53380.html](http://www.steadyhealth.com/Asian_flush_or_alcohol_allergy __Need_advice__ t53380.html) here’s something that touches it [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-drunk/477370.md?page=2)