# Getting drunk, what's happening to the body?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 8, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029 "2003-11-08T03:30:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![crazy\_grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dbc845/32.png) [@crazy\_grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazy_grady)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029/1 "2003-11-08T03:30:16Z")

</div>

I am interested what happens when someone drinks alcohol. What happens to the body when someone drinks alcohol. I have heard that the pleasurable experience that one gets is a by product of the body fighting off the alcohol. How does the liver play in all this?

I hear that the only way to get someone sober is time, but if I am drinking, eating food brings me back down to Earth a little bit. In my experiences with booze, people get hungry during/after drinking and people like to eat heavy/greasy food like pizza, fried chicken or cheeseburgers. Or people like to go to waffle house or IHOP. The greasy food tends to break down the alcohol enzymes (to me).

I have learned with hard experience never to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana, it makes me sick. I do not do the two together. Does anyone else have this experience?

Interested.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029/2 "2003-11-08T09:08:14Z")

</div>

Please see [my pitiful attempt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=179140) at answering the alcohol-hunger relationship question a few months ago. It may or may not be accurate.

Someone more knowledgeable should be along soon.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029/3 "2003-11-08T10:30:16Z")

</div>

For more about alcohol than you’ll ever want to know:

> **[Feedback: Pure beer leaves a lot to be desired](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130912-100-feedback/)**
>
> Plus AI judge turns beauty pageant ugly, problems with both muck and cleanliness, depressed workers sought, a recipe for cold supper and more

Specifically about the hunger / alcohol relationship:  
[http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/alcohol/alcohol.jsp?id=lw256](http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/alcohol/alcohol.jsp?id=lw256)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PlasticVirgil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@PlasticVirgil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlasticVirgil)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-drunk-whats-happening-to-the-body/212029/4 "2003-11-08T11:02:15Z")

</div>

I always liked this explanation:

> **[How Alcohol Works](https://science.howstuffworks.com/alcohol.htm#pt1)**
>
> More than 2.3 billion people across the globe drink alcohol, but most don't consider it a drug. But if you've ever seen someone who's had too much, you know alcohol has profound effects on the mind and body.

And yeppirs, Alchohol and Ganj’ is a no-no for me. The catatonic, Zombie like stupor I go into lasts about 3 hours and just about always ends at the toilet. 8( .