A Look at Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
If you drink then you need to understand what Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is. Blood Alcohol Concentration is the quantity of alcohol that is in the bloodstream. This is the case whether you have had a lot to drink, or only a little. Your bloodstream does not lie.
The BAC is what the police use as the determining factor of whether or not an individual is legally impaired. Your Blood Alcohol Concentration is decided upon by looking at four specific items. These include:
-The quantity of alcohol you have consumed
-The speed at which you drank the alcohol
-The individual’s body weight
-The individual’s gender
Be aware that the liver processes alcohol that enters it at a rate that it sets for itself. Due to this, no matter how quickly you consume alcohol, it will not leave your body any faster or slower than the liver deems appropriate.
If your BAC is either equal to or lower than the legal limit, which is 0.08, then under the law you are still impaired. An example of when this could happen is if you are taking prescription medication but then decide to have a drink. You could then become tired much easier or you could appear tipsy and more impaired than you actually are.
Other Factors
There are other factors that play an integral role in how an individual reacts to the consumption of alcohol. These include tolerance, mood, environment and health.
Tolerance
A person who makes it a habit to drink on a frequent basis needs to drink more and more in order to get the same effect that they used to get when they drank only a little. Tolerance builds over time.
Mood
The type of mood you are in when you start to drink can have an impact on the behavior you exhibit when you are drinking. For example feeling in a negative state of mind is likely to cause you to drink more than when you are feeling positive and uplifted.
Environment
The environment you drink in plays a role in how you act. For example you will behave differently when you drink at home alone from when you drink with a couple of friends. In turn being out at a bar or a party will also bring about other types of behavior.
Health
The state of your health is significant in relation to how you react to alcohol consumption. If you have a medical condition, if you are in bad health, or do not take care of yourself these factors will all figure into how your body copes with the alcohol.
While it may appear that ingesting alcohol is a simply process with little to no consequences, but rather only feelings of elation, it is easy to see that alcohol is indeed much more than this. The possibly negative side effects can be felt in the mind and body, including your liver, mood and even your coordination.
