We know you’ve been there before – what started out as a casual night of drinking has turned into a sloppy mess. At this point in the night, you’re slurring words and are stumbling as you walk. Worst case scenario: you have your head buried in a toilet as you vomit your way through the night.
Your evening doesn’t have to end this way.
It’s critical to understand the importance of responsible drinking – an understanding that entails the safety of both yourself and others around you. Enjoying alcohol and having a fun night out on the town doesn’t have to mean you get belligerently intoxicated every night. These best DUI lawyers in Gilbert recommend the following five tips for safe and responsible drinking.
Eat Before You Drink
Putting some food in your body slows the absorption of alcohol. Things like proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are all fantastic choices to alter the effects of alcohol consumption. Furthermore, you might want to consider bananas as they help with the absorption process for alcohol in your stomach and prevents nausea.
Count Your Drinks
Generally speaking, your body metabolizes alcohol at the rate of about one drink per hour. Thus, it takes about 60 minutes for the effects of just one drink to exit your body. As you consume drinks at a higher rate, your body falls behind and your level of intoxication increases.
Know the Strength of Your Drinks
As an avid alcohol consumer, you should understand the potency of each beverage. Consider the following: there is roughly the same amount of alcohol in one beer (12 ounces), one glass of wine (5 ounces), and one shot of liquor (1.5 ounces of 80-proof). Thus, you should really pay close attention as your bartender pours your drinks. For example, if two shots of alcohol go into your mixed drink, that counts as two drinks.
Do Not Partake in Drinking Games and Shots
Think about it this way: if you are taking shots, you’re likely to consume more than one shot per hour. This type of consumption is very similar in popular drinking games such as flip cup or beer pong.
It’s very difficult for your body to keep up with that pace of alcohol intake. Just because a shot is ingested within one second, doesn’t mean that your body metabolizes it quicker (it still takes the full hour). Thus, if you ingest several shots in a short period of time, your body falls behind in the metabolization process.
Understand Your Limits
Not only is binge drinking dangerous, it can also be deadly. Take some time before you go out to examine a BAC (blood alcohol content) calculator. This will provide you with guidance on how much you can potentially drink based on your physical dimensions (height, weight, and gender). However, a BAC calculator may not consider all health factors that are specific to you. Your doctor would be an appropriate resource to help determine exactly all the ways your body might react to alcohol. You should make responsible drinking plans based on these results.
