Alcohol burnoff rate refers to how quickly your body can break down alcohol and remove it from your blood, also known as metabolizing it. As you metabolize the alcohol in your bloodstream, you become less intoxicated. However, the burnoff rate is very slow, and it can take hours to burn off a single drink. This means people often stay drunk longer than they think.
Understanding the alcohol burnoff rate and defending yourself from a DUI conviction can be difficult. Fortunately, a Los Angeles DUI lawyer can provide the information and resources you need to protect your best interests.
Understanding Alcohol Burnoff Rate
Understanding the alcohol burnoff rate is essential to many DUI cases because DUI often depends on your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time you were pulled over. Generally, if you had a BAC of .08% or more, it was illegal to drive.
If it was less, you may have been driving within the legal limit. Two main factors affect your BAC besides how much you drank:
- Your alcohol absorption rate, or how fast your body puts the alcohol you drink into your bloodstream
- Your alcohol burnoff rate, or how fast it removes it
Basically, BAC is a juggling act between these two factors. Whenever you drink, your stomach and small intestine start working to absorb the alcohol into the blood, and your liver starts working to get rid of it. Unfortunately, your body can generally absorb alcohol much faster than it can break it down and burn it off, which is why you can feel drunk long after you stop drinking.
How Does the Body Break Down Alcohol?
When you start drinking, the liver uses an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. This enzyme essentially attaches to a molecule of ethanol (alcohol) and breaks it down.
In most cases, unless you are binge drinking or extremely drunk, this is your body’s only way to remove alcohol from the system. (In those extreme cases, it can produce a second enzyme called CYP2E1, but this is rare. If you are drinking that heavily, you are not safe to drive, and you may need hospitalization.)
Alcohol dehydrogenase is only produced by the liver, and the liver can only produce so much at once. This means that your body has a fixed, limited rate at which it can burn off alcohol.
Understanding the scientific side of alcohol burnout rate can be helpful, but getting effective legal representation is more important. Reach out to an attorney today to get started on your defense case.
The Effects of Alcohol and Heavy Drinking on the Human Body
Heavy drinking can severely impact the human body. It can damage the liver, leading to conditions like fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis. The brain suffers as well, with effects ranging from cognitive impairments to increased risk of mental health disorders.
The cardiovascular system can be compromised, resulting in hypertension, cardiomyopathy, and an increased risk of stroke. The digestive system is also affected, with increased risks of gastritis, pancreatitis, and certain cancers. Additionally, heavy drinking weakens the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infections.
Drinking alcohol can also impair your reaction times and make driving dangerous. If you’ve been arrested for drunk driving, you’ll want to seek counsel from a trusted DUI defense attorney. A lawyer can provide a more in-depth explanation of the alcohol burnoff rate and protect you from a conviction.
How Fast Do I Burn Off the Alcohol I Drink?
Your alcohol burnoff rate is measured by how fast your body can decrease your blood alcohol content. The rate for everyone is about .016% per hour. So, for example, if your BAC is .10 and you wait one hour, it will have gone down by .016%, to a total of .084%—which is over the legal limit.
In fact, if your alcohol started at .10%, it would take you over six hours of no drinking to become completely sober. Understanding how fast you burn off alcohol can help you avoid intoxicated driving and the legal penalties that result from an arrest.
Is the Burnoff Rate Different from Person to Person?
In most ways, everybody’s body is unique, and we all know that some people metabolize things differently than others. But this isn’t the case for the alcohol burnoff rate. This is because alcohol dehydrogenase can only work so fast, one alcohol molecule at a time.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a man or woman, 6 feet tall or 5 feet tall, or whether you had a light beer or a hard liquor. Your body can only break down alcohol at a rate of about .016% per hour, and any difference from person to person is insignificant.
However, there are two exceptions to this:
- If you eat before drinking: if you eat before drinking, you may break down alcohol slightly faster. This is probably because a full stomach increases blood flow and liver activity. However, the difference is not a big one—it will still take a long time to break down alcohol. And eating after you start drinking doesn’t help at all.
- If you are a heavy drinker: If you drink often, you can potentially develop cirrhosis of the liver. This condition inhibits liver function, and you will take even longer to burn off alcohol.
Can I Speed Up my Burnoff Rate?
Unfortunately, you can’t speed up your alcohol burnoff rate. There are many tricks that people try, such as drinking coffee, taking a shower, drinking water, or “sleeping it off.” These tricks can help in other ways, helping you feel more alert or preventing dehydration and hangovers, but they don’t change how drunk you are, and they don’t speed anything up.
Even if you feel alert because you’ve had a lot of caffeine, if your BAC is over a certain limit, you have the same poor reflexes and decision-making as any other intoxicated person.
How Long Do I Have to Wait to Be Safe to Drive?
There is no single, strict rule. Unfortunately, although the body’s alcohol burnoff rate is very consistent, the rate at which you absorb it can vary widely. You can even continue to absorb alcohol into your bloodstream long after you stop drinking, meaning you keep getting drunk with no more drinks. This is called rising BAC.
There are some estimates that people often give. For example, if you drink only one drink per hour, you can expect to burn off one drink as you start the next one, maintaining a mostly level BAC for the entire time you’re drinking. But this is a rule of thumb at best, and it won’t work as well for some people as it does for others.
If you use a BAC calculator, however, you can find out almost exactly what your BAC is—as long as you’re honest about the size and strength of the drinks you consumed. And if you know your BAC, you can subtract .016% per hour to know how many hours it will take to be completely sober.
Contact Us if You’ve Been Charged With Drunk Driving
If you’ve been charged with a drunk driving offense, you’re probably worried about how a conviction could impact your future and livelihood. Fortunately, a Los Angeles DUI Attorney can connect you with the resources you need to combat your charge and understand the legal process.
Contact us today to learn more about the alcohol burnoff rate and get started on your defense case. We’ll meet with you for a free consultation to provide the information you need to protect your best interests and avoid a damaging conviction.