Wednesday Facts: you didn't know this yet

This first Dry January Wednesday we introduce a new section: the Wednesday Facts. On a regular basis on Wednesdays, we treat you to facts about alcohol that surprise you. Today you expand your knowledge about, among other things, straws and blackouts.

You get drunk a little faster when you drink through a straw.

Drinking a glass with a straw in it looks so nice. Alcohol is also regularly served with such a cozy plastic (or rather paper) thing in it. Lurking from a straw looks harmless, but be careful, huh? Because the alcohol goes directly into the bloodstream through your palate, you will notice the effect of alcohol slightly faster than if you drink without a straw.

Drinking through a straw not only makes you drunk a little faster, by sucking through a straw without breathing, you are slightly short of oxygen. As a result, you feel a little light-headed. Then you feel doubly tipsy.

You don't get drunk faster by emptying your glass with small or large gulps.

Ingesting a little alcohol every time or emptying your glass in large gulps essentially makes no difference in terms of the effect of the alcohol. It really is about the amount of pure alcohol you drink in a certain time and it is no different with small or large sips. Getting drunk faster does happen if you drink more, are not used to drinking regularly or drink on an empty stomach.

A younger person gets drunk differently than an older person.

Correct. First of all, we make the difference between the actual effects and noticeable effects of alcohol.

By actual we mean: the reaction capacity, the breakdown rate of alcohol and the physical consequences. They are the same for everyone, young and old.

The noticeable effect can differ per age. In older people, the moisture content in the body decreases and alcohol is less and less diluted. The functioning of the liver also decreases, so that alcohol is broken down less quickly. Older people are therefore more likely to notice the effect of alcohol.

How large the effect actually is, also depends on various other factors. What you are used to drinking, your condition, a full stomach, how heavy you are, whether you are rested, use other substances or medication and whether you are a man or a woman.

Source: alcoholinfo.nl.

A blackout is a warning from the body.

In addition to the unpleasant experience of not knowing exactly what you have said or done, a blackout is a poisoning phenomenon and a strong warning from your body to drink less in the future. Every blackout deals a heavy blow to your brain. The damage that your brain incurs as a result can cause permanent memory problems with regular blackouts. Regular gaps in the memory are therefore an urgent call from your brain to you to take a closer look at your drinking habits. Especially when you know that damage that the brain has once suffered is irreversible.