 Richard Reams, Ph.D.
Senior Staff Psychologist, Counseling Services, Trinity University
If
you’re looking to enjoy a great buzz without having to deal with
negative stuff like a hangover, then this guide is for you.
The ideal Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) for the perfect
buzz is .04-.06.* As your BAC level rises higher, you become
increasingly likely to experience negative consequences, and
your buzz goes sour. Once you’ve lost the perfect buzz,
there’s no way to it back, despite the common misconception that “I
just need to drink more so I’ll feel good again.” Not gonna
happen! It’s a physiological impossibility.
To reach a BAC of .04-.06*, you must know how many drinks
you need to consume given your sex and weight. The following
chart provides an estimate of the number of drinks needed to
reach the .04-.06 BAC range for drinkers who have not developed
tolerance.**
Note: *A standard drink is a 12-oz beer, a glass of wine,
or a shot of liquor. Remember that one mixed drink may
contain more than one shot. Thus, one Long Island Iced
Tea is not “one drink” but two drinks.
| |
Men |
Women*** |
Weight |
Approximate Number of Standard
Drinks |
100 lbs |
1.0 |
1.0 |
110 lbs |
1.2 |
1.15 |
120 lbs |
1.4 |
1.3 |
130 lbs |
1.6 |
1.45 |
140 lbs |
1.8 |
1.6 |
150 lbs |
2.0 |
1.75 |
160 lbs |
2.2 |
1.8 |
170 lbs |
2.4 |
2.0 |
180 lbs |
2.6 |
2.15 |
190 lbs |
2.8 |
2.3 |
200 lbs |
3.0 |
2.45 |
210 lbs |
3.2 |
2.6 |
220 lbs |
3.4 |
2.75 |
230 lbs |
3.6 |
2.8 |
240 lbs |
3.8 |
3.0 |
250 lbs |
4.0 |
3.15 |
To maintain a BAC of .04-.06, you must remember that
the liver eliminates about one drink per hour (less for women
than for men, and even less for women who are on the birth control
pill). So, to avoid overshooting the .04-.06 range, the
drinker must have no more than one standard drink per hour after
reaching the .04-.06 range.
If the .04-.06 BAC buzz is your goal, you have a terrific
response to someone who insists that you have another drink: “No
thanks. I’ve got the perfect buzz and I don’t want to
ruin it!”
*Here’s a simple BAC chart, because most people don’t know what
BAC numbers mean:
(Note: Sleep deprivation will intensify the impairment
of alcohol on your functioning)
.02 |
Light and moderate drinkers
begin to feel some effect |
.04 |
Relaxation continues and
the perfect buzz develops |
.06 |
Judgment is somewhat impaired |
.08 |
Nausea and slurred speech
can appear; coordination and driving skills are impaired
(DUI in Texas for drivers 21 and older) |
.10 |
Clear deterioration in judgment,
coordination, and reaction time |
.15-.25 |
Balance and movement impaired. Risk
of blackouts (memory loss), passing out, and accidents
increase dramatically |
.25-.35 |
Most people lose consciousness;
risk of death |
.40-.45 |
Death likely |
** If you have developed tolerance, then it takes more alcohol
for you to feel a buzz. There are several disadvantages
to developing high tolerance to alcohol.
- High tolerance will decrease the quality of your buzz
(i.e., the stimulating effects of alcohol).
- High tolerance intensifies the depressant effects of alcohol
(e.g., feeling tired, having impaired judgment and coordination)
that you experience when BAC rises beyond .06. Although
a person with high tolerance may “feel fine,” his/her judgment,
reaction time, etc., has deteriorated nonetheless.
- High tolerance costs you more both financially and in terms
of your physical health, especially your liver’s health because
of how much you must drink to feel alcohol’s effects.
You can reduce your tolerance in a month by not drinking or
cutting way back. With low tolerance, then you can have
a better quality, low-BAC buzz again without having the impairments
that an inferior quality, higher-BAC buzz brings.
***Pound for pound, the same amount of alcohol will affect a
woman more intensely than a man because
- men have more water in their bodies, and water dilutes alcohol
- men have more of a stomach enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase)
that breaks down alcohol before it’s absorbed into the blood
stream
- women respond to alcohol more intensely when they are about
to have a period or if they’re taking the birth control pill
|
