• Образование (злокачественное)
Bartender, repeat! Why do long drinks get you drunk faster?
Since we’re talking about cocktails again, my dears, I decided to restart the column with an interesting fact.
So, have you ever wondered why a light cocktail makes you feel relaxed much more pleasantly and quickly, than an equivalent shot of neat vodka? It would seem that the amount of alcohol is the same, but the effect is completely different. I’ve noticed it myself!
It all comes down to how alcohol actually gets into our bodies. If your cocktail is even a little carbonated, carbon dioxide bubbles come into play. They slightly irritate the mucous membrane and make alcohol absorb into the blood many times faster. Vodka intoxication comes on like a slow, rather heavy wave, while a carbonated drink reaches the brain instantly, giving that feeling of sudden lightness.
On top of that, any cocktail contains syrup, juice, or sweet soda. This masks the bitter taste of the alcohol, and our receptors happily signal the brain that it tastes good. The brain perceives the drink as something safe and relaxes purely psychologically.
With vodka, that trick doesn’t work — the body immediately registers strong alcohol as a toxin, instantly mobilizes, and prepares to fight it, which is why you may first even feel a slight tension. Plus, the combination of sugar and alcohol causes a powerful release of dopamine, which creates that light euphoria.
And let’s not forget speed. We usually down a shot of vodka in one go — that’s a sharp shock to the liver. A cocktail, on the other hand, we sip slowly, sip by sip or even through a straw. Because of this, the alcohol has time to be partially absorbed even through the capillaries in the mouth, gently and gradually enveloping the nervous system without stress.
Still, you always have to pay for such a soft relaxation. Sugar slyly retains water and dehydrates the body more strongly. That’s why after a couple of “harmless” sweet cocktails, the morning hangover can feel worse than after pure alcohol.
Oh, by the way, wine also gets you buzzed faster than stronger drinks 🤭
And what have you noticed about yourself — what gets you tipsy faster?
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