How to Prevent Alcohol Poisoning
Make some drinks non-alcoholic., Drink one alcoholic drink per hour., Skip drinking games., Resist chugging., Pick lower-strength drinks., Understand your limits., Stick to a plan., Have a designated sober person., Eat before you drink., Resist peer...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make some drinks non-alcoholic.
When you're out drinking, don't make every drink an alcoholic drink.
Try drinking a soft drink or water instead of alcohol for some of your drinks to cut down on your alcohol intake — try making every other drink a non-alcoholic one., To play it safe, consider only drinking a single alcoholic drink per hour.
That means one glass of wine, one 12-ounce beer, or one 80-proof shot.Also, try not to switch back and forth on what you're drinking.
If you're drinking beer, stick with beer; if you're drinking hard liquor, stick with that.
Switching can sometimes lead to over-drinking., Drinking games encourage you to drink alcohol quickly in a short period of time.
This type of behavior can easily lead to alcohol poisoning, so try to bow out of drinking games.If you really want to participate, substitute a non-alcoholic beverage like soda or juice. , Another dangerous habit is chugging alcohol.
It can be tempting to chug when people around you are encouraging you to drink faster; however, drinking too fast can lead to alcohol poisoning, as you're putting a lot of alcohol in your system in a short period of time.Any alcohol you liver cannot process floats around in your bloodstream and finds its way to the brain, where it damages cells and, in high enough quantities, can shut down the brain stem.
Chugging is like mainline alcohol into your brain. , Not all drinks are created equal when it comes to alcohol content.
Therefore, it can help to pick drinks that aren't as strong, to help lower how much alcohol you consume.For instance, a 5-ounce glass of wine at 12 percent alcohol is considered one drink, while a 12-ounce glass of beer at 5 percent is also considered one drink.
However, some lagers can have a much higher alcohol content.
In addition,
1.5 ounces (one shot) of 80 proof alcohol is considered one drink.
So if you're drinking something that has multiple shots in it, you're drinking more than one drink at once., For a 160-pound guy, 15 shots in three or four hours could lead to alcohol poisoning.
For a 120-pound woman, it may only take nine shots in the same amount of time.
Finding your limit is not an exact science.
Many factors determine how much alcohol it would take to give you, personally, alcohol poisoning, so it's better to play it safe.For instance, how fast you drink affects your alcohol level.The weather, too, can affect your limit.
The water content of your body helps to mitigate the alcohol in your bloodstream.
So if you've been working out or sweating recently, or it's very hot out, your threshold for alcohol may actually be lower.
In addition, how healthy you are can affect how much alcohol you can drink, as can how much you normally drink.
In other words, if you don't normally drink, alcohol can affect you more.Consider that some drinks have as many as five shots in them, so drinking that much is easier than it sounds. , For instance, tell yourself you're only going to have three drinks.
When you're done with those drinks, stop drinking.
You can also pick a time to stop drinking, such as you'll stop drinking at 10:00 PM.
Having someone with you who is committed to the same plan can help., It's always a good idea to have a designated driver who's not drinking; however, you can also ask that person to keep an eye on how much alcohol you're drinking to help you stop if you need to., Having food in your stomach slows down how much alcohol your body can absorb.
Nonetheless, you can still get alcohol poisoning even if you have eaten, so don't think it's a free pass to drink as much as you want., It's not always easy to say "no" when your friends are encouraging you to drink.
In fact, it can be downright difficult because you naturally want to fit in and please your friends.
However, it's important to stand up for yourself, especially if the consequences could mean alcohol poisoning for you.One way to get out of drinking is to offer to be the designated driver.
That way, you have a solid reason to say "No."Have an excuse.
You could say that you have an early morning or a test the next day.
You could also say that you're on a sports team, and you need to be at your peak performance the next day.
As an example, you could say, "I'd like to drink, but coach really doesn't like it.
I need to be at my best all the time, or I'll get kicked off the team."Be sneaky.
You don't have to advertise that you're not drinking.
If you've got a drink in your hand, even if it's non-alcoholic, people will likely think you're drinking, so just play along.Of course, you can always just say "No." You have a right to say what happens with your body.Escape to the dance floor.
If you're busy dancing or even singing karaoke, people are less likely to try to press a drink in your hand. -
Step 2: Drink one alcoholic drink per hour.
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Step 3: Skip drinking games.
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Step 4: Resist chugging.
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Step 5: Pick lower-strength drinks.
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Step 6: Understand your limits.
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Step 7: Stick to a plan.
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Step 8: Have a designated sober person.
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Step 9: Eat before you drink.
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Step 10: Resist peer pressure.
Detailed Guide
When you're out drinking, don't make every drink an alcoholic drink.
Try drinking a soft drink or water instead of alcohol for some of your drinks to cut down on your alcohol intake — try making every other drink a non-alcoholic one., To play it safe, consider only drinking a single alcoholic drink per hour.
That means one glass of wine, one 12-ounce beer, or one 80-proof shot.Also, try not to switch back and forth on what you're drinking.
If you're drinking beer, stick with beer; if you're drinking hard liquor, stick with that.
Switching can sometimes lead to over-drinking., Drinking games encourage you to drink alcohol quickly in a short period of time.
This type of behavior can easily lead to alcohol poisoning, so try to bow out of drinking games.If you really want to participate, substitute a non-alcoholic beverage like soda or juice. , Another dangerous habit is chugging alcohol.
It can be tempting to chug when people around you are encouraging you to drink faster; however, drinking too fast can lead to alcohol poisoning, as you're putting a lot of alcohol in your system in a short period of time.Any alcohol you liver cannot process floats around in your bloodstream and finds its way to the brain, where it damages cells and, in high enough quantities, can shut down the brain stem.
Chugging is like mainline alcohol into your brain. , Not all drinks are created equal when it comes to alcohol content.
Therefore, it can help to pick drinks that aren't as strong, to help lower how much alcohol you consume.For instance, a 5-ounce glass of wine at 12 percent alcohol is considered one drink, while a 12-ounce glass of beer at 5 percent is also considered one drink.
However, some lagers can have a much higher alcohol content.
In addition,
1.5 ounces (one shot) of 80 proof alcohol is considered one drink.
So if you're drinking something that has multiple shots in it, you're drinking more than one drink at once., For a 160-pound guy, 15 shots in three or four hours could lead to alcohol poisoning.
For a 120-pound woman, it may only take nine shots in the same amount of time.
Finding your limit is not an exact science.
Many factors determine how much alcohol it would take to give you, personally, alcohol poisoning, so it's better to play it safe.For instance, how fast you drink affects your alcohol level.The weather, too, can affect your limit.
The water content of your body helps to mitigate the alcohol in your bloodstream.
So if you've been working out or sweating recently, or it's very hot out, your threshold for alcohol may actually be lower.
In addition, how healthy you are can affect how much alcohol you can drink, as can how much you normally drink.
In other words, if you don't normally drink, alcohol can affect you more.Consider that some drinks have as many as five shots in them, so drinking that much is easier than it sounds. , For instance, tell yourself you're only going to have three drinks.
When you're done with those drinks, stop drinking.
You can also pick a time to stop drinking, such as you'll stop drinking at 10:00 PM.
Having someone with you who is committed to the same plan can help., It's always a good idea to have a designated driver who's not drinking; however, you can also ask that person to keep an eye on how much alcohol you're drinking to help you stop if you need to., Having food in your stomach slows down how much alcohol your body can absorb.
Nonetheless, you can still get alcohol poisoning even if you have eaten, so don't think it's a free pass to drink as much as you want., It's not always easy to say "no" when your friends are encouraging you to drink.
In fact, it can be downright difficult because you naturally want to fit in and please your friends.
However, it's important to stand up for yourself, especially if the consequences could mean alcohol poisoning for you.One way to get out of drinking is to offer to be the designated driver.
That way, you have a solid reason to say "No."Have an excuse.
You could say that you have an early morning or a test the next day.
You could also say that you're on a sports team, and you need to be at your peak performance the next day.
As an example, you could say, "I'd like to drink, but coach really doesn't like it.
I need to be at my best all the time, or I'll get kicked off the team."Be sneaky.
You don't have to advertise that you're not drinking.
If you've got a drink in your hand, even if it's non-alcoholic, people will likely think you're drinking, so just play along.Of course, you can always just say "No." You have a right to say what happens with your body.Escape to the dance floor.
If you're busy dancing or even singing karaoke, people are less likely to try to press a drink in your hand.
About the Author
Joshua Campbell
Brings years of experience writing about practical skills and related subjects.
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