How to Sober Up Fast: Research on Reversing Alcohol Intoxication

Quick History of Alcohol

For thousands of years, alcohol has been the go-to social lubricant for humanity. Some of the oldest written texts in the world are beer recipes written on clay tablets.

But for as long as there has been alcohol, there have been people who take it too far. For some, it is on purpose. For others, it can sneak up by accident. Whether there is something to forget or something to celebrate, many people have experienced drinking more than they can handle. 

Alcohol Intoxication

Ever since alcohol was discovered, people have tried to undo its effects too. The desire to go to bed intoxicated and avoid a morning hangover is more dream than reality. More importantly, serious cases of intoxication result in people causing permanent harm to their bodies. Sometimes this can even result in death.

Additionally, concern is growing because the rate of alcohol-related injury and death has been on the rise in the past few decades. In the United States, about one out of every three people will overuse alcohol at some point in their lives.

A Smart way to Sober Up

Recently, there have been scientific advances in our understanding of how alcohol is removed from our bodies. This information can be used to help someone sober up faster. 

But it’s impossible to sober up without getting drunk. That’s why in this article, first we will talk about different types of chemicals with the name alcohol. Then we will go over what’s actually going on inside the body when we get drunk. And finally, we’ll talk about ways to sober up and break down a new study.

If your New Year’s resolution is to have better health including fewer hangovers, keep on reading. This article is for you.

The Science of Alcohol

The act of getting drunk seems pretty simple doesn’t it? Just drink enough alcohol in a short amount of time and wham-o! You’re living your best (or worst) drunk life. But of course, our bodies are amazing machines. There is so much more than we can see going on behind the scenes. 

What is Alcohol?

Alcohol is a general name for a large group of chemical cousins. There are many different kinds of alcohol. Some you probably have already heard of. 

• Isopropyl alcohol is also known as rubbing alcohol. It is used to clean and disinfect.
• Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol. This sweet molecule is used in place of traditional sugar in sugar free gum and other treats.

But the star of today’s show is ethyl alcohol, better known as ethanol. This is the alcohol in beer, wine, vodka, and every other drink that causes intoxication.

Ethanol: Ethyl Alcohol

Ethanol – ethyl alcohol – is a small molecule that is easily absorbed in our gut and crosses into the brain. This is where the magic happens. It interacts with other chemicals in the brain and gives us a feeling of relaxation or letting go. This can mean smoother conversation, less anxiety, and a feeling of euphoria.

Of course, it comes with some downsides as well. Less function and balance are why drunk people have trouble walking, slur their words, and end up in vehicle accidents. I shouldn’t really have to say it, but come on, don’t drink and drive. 

How Long Are You Drunk?

Like most everything about our bodies, it depends on the person. Some factors that influence how long someone stays drunk include:

• How much they drink
• How fast they drink
• How often they drink
• Gender (women get more drunk and faster than men)
• Body mass (more massive means slower intoxication)
• Drinking on an empty vs full stomach
• What medications you are taking

It Starts With One Drink

One drink is usually counted as one glass of wine, beer, or one shot (44 mL) of a spirit (vodka, whisky, etc.). This is because spirits are typically stronger than beer and wine. For example, typical vodka is 80 proof – 40% alcohol by volume. This is much higher than beer or wine. These average around 5% and 12% each.

But how long we stay drunk really depends on how drunk someone gets. This is because getting undrunk requires getting rid of the alcohol in our system. What’s more, most of the process gets started by only one enzyme.

Breaking Down Alcohol

Getting rid of the alcohol in our bodies is a complicated process and the end result is that we pee it out. However a lot of the work is done by the weekend’s hardest working enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase. 

Alcohol dehydrogenase

The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase is the first one responsible for the breakdown of alcohol in our bodies. It is made by the liver and goes to work with your first sip. The problem is that we only have a limited supply. In the pharmacy biz we call this “enzyme saturation”. That means while the enzyme is being used, we have to wait until the reaction is done. Then the enzyme will free up to do more work. 

Imagine being at a grocery store. No matter how many people are in line, if there is one cashier, only one person can be helped at a time. Alcohol dehydrogenase works in a similar way. That’s why the drunker you are, the longer it takes to sober up.

Poisonous Alcohol

Alcohol poisoning is caused by drinking too much alcohol in a short amount of time. This pushes someone past the point of being drunk. For some people, getting extra alcohol out of their system can be a matter of life or death. Every year people end up in the emergency room due to alcohol poisoning and it is the 3rd highest cause of preventable death.

Tell-tale signs of alcohol poisoning include:

• Confusion or unconsciousness (blacking out)
• Low body temperature
• Blue or pale skin
• Slow breathing or long breaks between breaths
• Seizures

Medications and Alcohol

Some liquid medications are made by mixing a drug in alcohol. These are called tinctures and elixirs. But doing this requires advanced knowledge of how a particular drug will interact with the ethanol solution.

So let’s keep things simple shall we? In general, alcohol and medications do not mix well. Some medications lose effectiveness with alcohol, some make alcohol’s effects stronger, and others can make you feel incredibly sick.

For an informational chart about specific medications and reactions, check out the “Talk Nerdy to Me” section.

A New Way to Get Sober from Alcohol

Even with all our modern medicine, when it comes to getting sober from alcohol, not much has changed. We need to wait for our bodies’ machinery to clear out alcohol in what is often a slow process. However, in a recent study, it was revealed that a special type of breathing, called isocapnic hyperpnea, could increase how quickly the body can get rid of alcohol and help someone sober up fast.

Breathing Technique: Isocapnic Hyperpnea (IH)

In the study, people used a machine called a ClearMate. A device nearly identical to this is FDA approved to help people recover from poisoning with a deadly gas called carbon monoxide. [insert pic?] 

Using the device, you breathe in a little more carbon dioxide (CO2) and a little less oxygen. This helps clear the blood of the unwanted alcohol at a faster speed. This type of breathing requires deeper breaths at a faster rate than normal. The people in the study did IH breathing for a total of 3 hours.

Sober Up Quickly

  The people in the study cleared alcohol from their system 3x faster than normal! The greatest part about this technique – no drugs required. Still, using the technique does not promise instant sobriety. Although one day, it may be the difference between having a morning hangover or a productive day. More importantly, it might be the difference between a hangover and a hospital visit. 

Home Hangover Help

The million dollar question is: can this help someone sober up? The truth is…maybe. The study was done on a very small number of subjects, only 5 men. So while it seems promising, there is a long way to go to prove that this technique can work for a wide range of people and alcohol levels.

Maybe in the near future, a home version of this device will help folks all over the world lead more productive lives after a night out with friends. In the present day however, the best way to deal with a hangover is to avoid getting one in the first place.

Final Thoughts

I was surprised by how much we still don’t know. For example, it seems crazy to me that we’ve been making alcohol for thousands of years but still don’t really understand what a hangover is. Even more amazing, we don’t know how to prevent them or treat them perfectly. In another article, I will dive deeper into what we do know about hangovers.  

The future looks promising. Since it is better understood now more than ever how to enjoy alcohol safely. In addition, the discovery of new tricks to get alcohol out of our bodies faster is a promising way to save lives and headaches. 

At the end of the day, the best way to avoid intoxication is simply not to drink. However alcohol is easily available and part of many cultures globally. So, knowledge about responsible use is our best defense against its worst effects.

Alcohol Metabolism

At present, clinical procedures for elimination of circulating ethanol rely largely on the body’s natural physiology complimented with supportive measures. On average, alcohol is cleared at 3.3 mmol/hr (15mg/dL/hr).

Renal elimination is responsible for no more than 5% of total clearance in conjunction with cytochrome P450 (CYP). This method of elimination exhibits first-order (concentration dependent) kinetics in proportion to blood alcohol levels. The vast majority of alcohol elimination proceeds via hepatic metabolism utilizing several key enzymes, most notably alcohol dehydrogenase.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Greater than 90% of ethanol elimination is hepatic, largely catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase. It exhibits Michaelis-Menten zero-order (saturable) kinetics and is largely considered the rate limiting step in ethanol metabolism.

Ethanol – Drug Interactions

This list contains common medications impacted by the ingestion of alcohol. However the sample provided here does not contain all possible medications and interactions

Isocapnic Hyperpnea (IH) Study

The ClearMate gas exchange device facilitated IH during the treatment arm of the aforementioned study. The device maintains a higher overall concentration of inspired CO2. This allows for a gradient through which volatile compounds, i.e. ethanol, can diffuse across. This process allows a higher concentration of ethanol to be present in expired air than would be present under physiological conditions.

Methods

For the purposes of the reported study, five healthy male participants ingested 0.5g/kg body weight of ethanol. The subjects did not eat or consume alcohol for six and 12 hours prior to the study period respectively. Breathalyzer blood alcohol content (BAC) measurements began 20 minutes post ingestion and were repeated every 5 minutes during the study duration of 3 hours until a BAC of less than 0.03%. Each subject served as their own control by breathing room air on an alternate day of testing.

Results

IH increased the rate of ethanol clearance by at least 3 times that of normal in the study participants. At higher BACs the absolute quantity of ethanol cleared is greater due to first order elimination kinetics via the lungs. However, the half-life of ethanol remains unchanged. Two of the five study subjects experienced some rebound BAC after discontinuation of IH.

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