What is Alcohol?

In order to understand alcohol's effects on the body, it is helpful to understand the nature of alcohol as a chemical, so let's take a look... Here are several facts:

• Alcohol is a clear liquid at room temperature.
• Alcohol is less dense and evaporates at a lower temperature than water (this property allows it to be distilled -- by heating a water and alcohol mixture, the alcohol evaporates first).
• Alcohol dissolves easily in water.
• Alcohol is flammable (so flammable that it can be used as a fuel).

Alcohol can be made by four different methods:

• Fermentation of fruit or grain mixtures
• Distillation of fermented fruit or grain mixtures (Spirits such as whiskey, rum, vodka and gin are distilled.)
• Chemical modification of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal (industrial alcohol)
• Chemical combination of hydrogen with carbon monoxide (methanol or wood alcohol)

Ethyl Alcohol

The alcohol found in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol (ethanol). The molecular structure of ethanol looks like this:

H
H₃ C - C - O - H
H
In this structure, C is carbon, H is hydrogen, O is oxygen and the hyphens are the chemical bonds between the atoms. For purposes of clarity, the bonds between the three hydrogen atoms and the left carbon atom are not shown. The OH (O-H) group on the molecule is what gives it the specific chemical properties of an alcohol. For the remainder of this article, when we say "alcohol," we mean ethanol.

You will not find pure alcohol in most drinks; drinking pure alcohol can be deadly because it only takes a few ounces of pure alcohol to quickly raise the blood alcohol level into the danger zone. For various types of beverages, the ethanol concentration (by volume) is as follows:

• Beer = 4 to 6 percent (average of about 4.5 percent)
• Wine = 7 to 15 percent (average of about 11 percent)
• Champagne = 8 to 14 percent (average of about 12 percent)
• Distilled spirits (e.g . rum, gin, vodka, whiskey) = 40 to 95 percent
  • Most of the typical spirits purchased in liquor stores are 40 percent alcohol.
  • Some highly concentrated forms of rum and whisky (75 to 90 percent) can be purchased in liquor stores.
  • Some highly concentrated forms of whiskey (i.e. moonshine) can be made and/or purchased illegally.

• How Alcohol Enters the Body

  When a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, about 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and about 80 percent is absorbed in the small intestine. How fast the alcohol is absorbed depends upon several things:
  • The concentration of alcohol in the beverage - The greater the concentration, the faster the absorption.
  • The type of drink - Carbonated beverages tend to speed up the absorption of alcohol.
  • Whether the stomach is full or empty - food slows down alcohol absorption.
  After absorption, the alcohol enters the bloodstream and dissolves in the water of the blood. The blood carries the alcohol throughout the body. The alcohol from the blood then enters and dissolves in the water inside each tissue of the body (except fat tissue, as alcohol cannot dissolve in fat). Once inside the tissues, alcohol exerts its effects on the body. The observed effects depend directly on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which is related to the amount of alcohol consumed. The BAC can rise significantly within 20 minutes after having a drink.