How Long Does Alcohol Stay in your system?

Have you ever woken up the next day after a night out, then questioned your head to see if it’s still taking in the alcohol? Maybe you are concerned about an upcoming drug test at work. Alcohol moving through and eventually leaving your body is not only interesting science. However, it is practical knowledge for millions of people every day. Of course, alcohol does not linger in your system forever. Rather, its timeline is also more complex than people understand.

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How Fast does your Body process Alcohol?

Alcohol is regarded as a toxin to your body. Therefore, it will work hard to get rid of it. On average, the person breaks down alcohol at one of one standard drink per hour. In this article, Cederbaum (2012) writes that the average elimination rate of alcohol is 0.015 g/dL per hour. Thus, it would take 10 hours to completely clear 0.15 g/dL of alcohol from plasma. Which is also included in research published in the journal Clinical Liver Disease.

Is There Such a Thing as the ‘Alcohol After the Feeling Sober’?

Absolutely, and this surprises many people. It does not mean the alcohol is fully out of your system simply because you are no longer intoxicated. While a buzz from alcohol might have worn off, drug testing labs employ methods to detect the alcohol in various ways.

Breathalyzers detect alcohol within 12-24 hours after your last gulp of alcohol. On the other hand, urine tests can still see alcohol metabolites up to 3–5 days later.
Even hair follicle tests are more revealing. They can detect alcohol consumption patterns for at least 90 days.
EtG (ethyl glucuronide) tests can detect alcohol metabolites in urine for up to 80 hours after you quit drinking, even if you have only had one or two drinks!

How Long Does Alcohol Stay in Your System?

Your body’s relationship with alcohol is up for grabs due to several key factors.

The liver works to metabolize alcohol: alcohol health. If there is any impairment to liver function, high amounts of alcohol will remain in your system.
A higher body fat percentage generally means less slow alcohol metabolism.
Biological Sex: Women are usually more metabolically slow to process alcohol.

What’s the Reason to Drink on an empty Stomach?

It doesn’t mean faster elimination of the alcohol.

The blood levels of certain drugs may be increased if alcohol is consumed, which can increase the risk of side effects when these drugs are taken.

A much more comprehensive study from the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that there can be up to a 40 percent difference in the alcohol elimination rate (Edenberg, 2007).

Is an Alcohol Drug Test Always Accurate?

The accuracy of an alcohol drug test depends on several social, physiological, and test specifications.

Although blood alcohol concentration (BAC) tests are the gold standard for determining current intoxication, they have very short detection windows.
The problem with urine screening is its longer detection window and possible false positives. This is because substances such as alcohol contain low percentages, sometimes as little as two percent. This includes many foods, medications, and even some mouthwashes.
EtG tests are likewise incredibly touchy, in some cases discovering incidental alcohol presentation from items like hand sanitizers.

Take the First Step to Safety: Book Your Drug Testing Today!

Where Can You Get Satisfactory Alcohol Testing?

Specialized drug testing facilities like Choice DNA offer many options for testing for personal, legal, or employment purposes. These comprehensive alcohol testing services deliver accurate, confidential results. Offering drug testing services like 5 panel drug test and 10 panel drug tests can accurately detect a range of illicit substances. Their protocols measure both recently consumed products and long-term use patterns. Knowing how alcohol clears your system will help you gauge risk and make the most intelligent choices about when to drink.

Conclusion

If you are in doubt, give yourself a little extra time, as your body will thank you for it. However, it is interesting here not everyone processes alcohol at the same rate. Instead, it depends on your metabolism, body weight, biological sex, liver health, and even genetics. With Choice DNA, the otherwise stressful alcohol drug testing is made simple and accessible. There must be no chance for alcohol testing to be left running. Pick the smart approach and trust Choice DNA, which makes accuracy and compassion necessary when dealing with the testing that exists in life.