Influence of several factors on blood alcohol concentrations after drinking alcohol.

The influence of several factors on the blood alcohol course after drinking diluted ethanol was studied in young, healthy volunteers under strictly standardized conditions. These factors were sex, dose and concentration of the alcohol, physical exercise immediately after drinking, meal consumption before drinking and energy content and composition of the meal. In 18 blood samples, taken within 6 hr after alcohol ingestion, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was determined enzymatically. Concomitantly breath analyses were performed. In general, both methods gave similar results. Peak concentration and area under the blood alcohol curve increased with increasing dose. With the same amount of ethanol, peak concentration and area under the curve tended to be greater in women than in men. Consumption of a meal had an attenuating effect. The area under the curve was smaller after a high-energy meal than after a low-energy meal. Peak concentration depended on meal composition, increasing in the order high protein less than high sucrose = high complex carbohydrate less than high fat. A similar trend was observed for the area under the blood alcohol curve.