How Long Does It Take To Sober Up After Drinking? - Riddell Law LLC

How Long Does It Take to Sober Up After Drinking?

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The answer to this question is: it depends.

The rate at which your body metabolizes alcohol depends on a variety of factors.   Alcohol generally metabolizes in your liver.   The speed varies from person to person depending on gender, weight and other factors (listed in detail below).

On average, however, a person’s BAC (blood alcohol concentration) — once you have stopped drinking — will drop by about 0.015 per hour.

For example – on average:

• If you have a max BAC of .08 (which is about 4-5 drinks for the average sized male), it will take about five and a half hours for the person to eliminate all of the alcohol in their system.

• If you have a max BAC of 0.15 (which is about 8-9 drinks for an average sized male), it will take about ten hours for the person to eliminate all of the alcohol in their system to get back to 0.0.  (NHTSA Manual).

Gender makes a difference as well.

For the average-sized male, a BAC of 0.015 is equal to about two-thirds of a can of beer, or glass of wine or shot of whiskey. For the average-sized female, a 0.015 BAC is equal to about just one half of a standard drink (beer, wine or shot). (NHSTA Manual).

So, the typical male will eliminate about two-thirds of a drink per hour, while the typical female will burn up about one half of a drink an hour.

*Remember all of the facts and figures above are averages.  One individual’s ability to metabolize alcohol will depend on many factors, including: age, gender, medications taken, rate of consumption, whether you have eaten any food, strength of the drinks, alcohol tolerance, body type, overall health, among other factors.

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