Flushing Alcohol From Your System
Your body has a natural process for eliminating alcohol. But what happens if you need to hurry the process along? Are there any effective strategies for flushing alcohol from your system more quickly?
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How Does Your Body Flush Alcohol From Your System?
The natural process of flushing alcohol from your system is called metabolism.
When you take a drink, four general things happen:
- Alcohol molecules are absorbed into your bloodstream
- Your blood stream carries the molecules throughout your body
- The alcohol molecules start to have a disruptive effect on your body and mind
- Your body starts to break down the alcohol molecules so they can be safely eliminated
Step four above is when metabolism begins.
Under normal conditions, it takes blood about 20 seconds to circulate throughout your entire body, so it doesn’t take long for metabolism to get underway.
Metabolism isn’t unique to alcohol, as your body processes everything you eat and drink to extract nutrients and eliminate waste. But in the case of alcohol metabolism, the process puts a particular strain on your body that, over time, can cause considerable harm.
The Metabolism Process
Alcohol is primarily broken down in the liver, which is designed to filter toxins (poisons) from your bloodstream.
A key part of the alcohol metabolism process involves two enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH):
- ADH turns alcohol molecules into acetaldehyde, which is an extremely dangerous substance and a known carcinogen.
- ALDH converts the acetaldehyde into acetate, which is much safer.
- The acetate is then broken down into carbon dioxide and water, which can be eliminated from your body via breath and urine.
As noted by the National Association on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), some alcohol metabolism also occurs in the pancreas, brain, and gastrointestinal tract. But the bulk of the work occurs in your liver.
Liver Damage
Alcohol can inflict considerable damage on many parts of your body, including your heart, brain, lungs, pancreas, muscles, and gastrointestinal tract. But perhaps the most widely known effect of heavy drinking is liver damage. And that damage is a result of the strain placed on it while flushing alcohol from your body.
There are three stages of alcohol-related liver disease:
- Steatosis: This used to be called fatty liver disease. It often has no symptoms, though it can cause fatigue and weight gain. The good news is that the excess fat buildup can usually be reversed if you quit drinking.
- Hepatitis: Continued alcohol use after developing steatosis can lead to alcoholic hepatitis. This stage is characterized by acute inflammation, cellular death, and scarring. Symptoms include fever, stomach pain, and jaundice. The scarring may be irreversible, but if you quit drinking at this point you may be able to alleviate most of the symptoms and prevent the damage from progressing.
- Cirrhosis: At the final and most serious stage of alcohol-related liver disease, scar tissue begins to replace healthy tissue, which can lead to impaired functioning and eventually liver failure. Symptoms include swelling of the abdomen and lower legs, nausea and vomiting, weakness, confusion, and internal bleeding.
Flushing Alcohol From Your System: Can You Speed the Process?
Given the damage that drinking can have on your body, it’s understandable why people are interested in flushing alcohol from your system as quickly as possible. Hurrying the metabolism process would also be extremely beneficial for people who are intoxicated or experiencing other negative effects.
But can you actually do anything to get alcohol out of your body more quickly?
Myths about how to quickly flush alcohol from your body:
- Drink strong black coffee
- Walk or exercise
- Take a cold shower
- Make yourself vomit
- Eat bread or other carbohydrates
Regardless of what you may have heard or read elsewhere, none of these efforts will work.
This is extremely important and warrants being repeated: NONE of the myths listed above will get alcohol out of your system faster.
There are only two things you can do that are guaranteed to flush alcohol from your body: stop drinking and wait.
What Happens If You Can’t Stop Drinking?
If you can’t stop drinking, even if you know that continuing to do so will be dangerous, that is a red flag for alcohol addiction.
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) includes 11 criteria for alcohol use disorder, which is the clinical term for alcoholism:
- Drinking more alcohol than you intended, or drinking for longer than you meant to
- Spending significant amounts of time using alcohol and recovering from its effects
- Wanting to stop drinking but being unsuccessful when you try to quit
- Having powerful urges or cravings to drink
- Not taking care of your responsibilities at home, in school, or at work because of your alcohol use
- Continuing to drink even after developing physical or mental health problems that were either caused or worsening by your alcohol use
- Continuing to drink even after having personal or social problems, such as the end of a relationship or conflicts with friends, because of your alcohol use
- Limiting or ending your participation in important social or work-related activities because of your alcohol use
- Repeatedly using alcohol in circumstances that can be physically hazardous, such as drinking and driving
- Developing tolerance, which means you need to drink more than you used to in order to feel the effects of alcohol
- Developing physical and/or psychological withdrawal symptoms when you attempt to curtail your alcohol use
Having two of these symptoms is enough to justify a diagnosis of mild alcohol use disorder.
People with four or five symptoms may be diagnosed with moderate alcohol use disorder, while those with at least six symptoms meet the criteria for serious alcohol use disorder.
But even so-called “mild” alcoholism can have a devastating impact on your life if left untreated. So if any of the symptoms listed above look familiar to you, a good first step would be to schedule an assessment with your doctor or a qualified addiction treatment professional in your area.
Completing a thorough evaluation and receiving an accurate diagnoses can be two important steps on your path toward effective treatment and a much healthier future.
Find Alcohol Addiction Treatment in Massachusetts
Lake Avenue Recovery offers customized outpatient care for adults whose lives have been disrupted by addictions to alcohol and other substances. We also provide dual-diagnosis programming for clients whose struggles with compulsive substance abuse are anxiety, depression, and other co-occurring mental health concerns.
Treatment at our center in Worcester, MA, occurs in two highly supportive environments, a high-intensity outpatient program and an intensive outpatient program (IOP) with an evening option.
In each program, you can expect to receive personalized evidence-based services from a team of dedicated professionals who are truly invested in your success.
To learn more call 508-794-4400 or verify your insurance now.