Alcohol doesn’t affect everyone the same way. Whether you are a seasoned casual drinker or someone who prefers to have a drink every once in a while, it is crucial to understand the impact alcohol can have on your body, regardless of how often you drink. For example, two people could drink the same amount of alcohol at the same time, and they would both have different experiences while intoxicated. There are many reasons for this, and this blog post will aim at covering the main ones to give you a good understanding of impairment and learning to drink responsibly by listening to both yourself, and your body’s needs.
The Many Factors Involved
The first factor to understand is the impact of your body composition, specifically the ratio of muscle to fat in your body1. Alcohol is mainly distributed throughout your body’s water content, and you would be surprised to know that your fat tissue carries less water than your muscle tissue. This means that people who exercise frequently, or those who in general have larger muscle tissue can more evenly distribute alcohol throughout their body, leading to an overall lower BAC. Conversely, studies have shown that people with higher body fat and lower muscle mass consistently report higher BAC averages, due to their body composition.
Physical Activity
Similarly, those who are more physically active can consistently process alcohol more efficiently. This is due to the increase in metabolism and improved liver function that is caused by regular activity. Those who aren’t as physically active may experience that the effects of alcohol hit them harder and last longer before they feel sober. When using a personal breathalyzer, two people with different body compositions and fitness lifestyles may drink the same amount and report noticeably different BAC results.
Alcohol Tolerance
Perhaps the most discussed cause of impairment is one’s tolerance level to alcohol. A popular misconception about tolerance is that those with a higher tolerance to alcohol also become impaired much slower, but this is not true. A study from UChicago Medicine found that frequent drinkers of alcohol were still significantly impaired in their motor control and decision-making, even if they claimed to feel sober2. This occurs because your metabolic tolerance and your cognitive tolerance do not always align, regardless of how frequently you drink. A fantastic use of your ACE XS is to use it to track your BAC over time to keep tabs on not just your tolerance, but also your impairment levels.
The Power of Genetics
One of the more known factors in impairment are gender differences and genetics. Since women typically have less body water than men and produce less of the stomach enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase) that begins the breakdown of the alcohol before it enters the blood stream, they often reach higher BACs than men when drinking the same amount3. Additionally, genetic variations of that same stomach enzyme determine how efficiently your body breaks down alcohol, leading to higher or lower metabolism rates regardless of body composition or physicality. It is also important to keep in mind that fluctuations in hormones from certain medications and menstruation can affect how alcohol is metabolized in the body.
Conclusion
In summary, it is important to consider how factors like body composition, physicality, tolerance, gender, and genetics all affect your overall impairment when drinking alcoholic beverages. At ACE, we strongly recommend that anyone who drinks should be fully aware of what their body can and cannot handle to ensure a safe and responsible experience. With the ACE XS, monitoring your impairment has never been faster and more accurate, because we all deserve some peace of mind.
Sources:
1. Liangpunsakul, Suthat et al. “Relationship among alcohol intake, body fat, and physical activity: a population-based study.” Annals of epidemiology vol. 20,9 (2010): 670-5. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2010.05.014. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2921229/
2. Wood, Matt. “People with Alcohol Use Disorder Impaired after Heavy Drinking, despite Claims of Higher Tolerance.” UChicago Medicine, UChicago Medicine, 18 June 2023, www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/research-and-discoveries-articles/people-with-alcohol-use-disorder-impaired-after-heavy-drinking-despite-claims-of-higher-tolerance.
3. “Understanding Alcohol’s Effects.” Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=understanding-alcohols-effects-1-2860. Accessed 30 June 2025.
