How quickly one can get drunk

There are various factors that affect how much a person can drink and how quickly a person becomes drunk.

Dr Desmond Wai, a gastroenterologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, lists some of them:

Men can generally drink more alcohol than women of the same size before they show its effects.

This is because women have a lower percentage of body water than men. Alcohol is distributed through the body by water in the bloodstream, so the more water in the blood, the more diluted the alcohol will be.

Women also have less of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol, so the alcohol they drink stays in their bodies for a longer time.

With age, the body's ability to break down alcohol declines.

The faster a person consumes an alcoholic beverage, the quicker blood alcohol concentration will rise. This is because alcohol is broken down more slowly than it is absorbed into the blood stream.

If you eat a meal before drinking, alcohol absorption will be considerably slower than drinking on an empty stomach.

Patients with liver problems may have a lower rate of metabolism of alcohol.

Medications that can cause drowsiness, such as anti-anxiety or sleeping medications, can increase alcohol intoxication.