There are quite a few drink-related myths out there, but one of the most pressing is the debate about who can hold their own better on a night out: men or women. JOE’s here to shed some light on things.
There are a lot of people out there who like to think they know everything when it comes to booze. However, most of the time you’ll actually just hear a bunch of old wives tales, such as drinking milk allowing you to drink more booze, or the ‘hair of the dog’ hangover cure.
What we all know is that a lot can go wrong if you don’t drink responsibly. And as some of our drinking patterns and habits are shaped by myths, half-truths and complete lies, we’ve decided to get in touch with the good people at drinkaware.ie to debunk some stuff that might sound all too familiar. This week: men v women, and who can hold their own.
Now you may remember at some point on a night out in the past, holding a girlfriend’s hair – or even a girl friend – as she unleashed the contents of her stomach across the footpath and/or your shoes. You wouldn’t be alone if you sighed and thought to yourself, ‘Lightweight. I’ve had the same as her and I’m fine.’
Well, the fact is, it’s true that females cannot process alcohol as quickly as males and can end up drunker if they drink the same amount of alcohol. FACT: You’re a man, and men can handle more drink than women. Now that might sound just a tad sexist, but it’s not. Scientifically, us men can drink that bit more than our female counterparts, no matter how much the girls might think otherwise and, ill-advisedly, try to disprove it.
The science bit…
This is because women build up a higher concentration of alcohol in their blood even after drinking the same amount as a fella. Even if a woman is taller or bigger than a man, she will have proportionally less body water in her system, so the concentration of alcohol in her blood stream will be quite a bit higher. Simply put, if a woman who weighs 10 stone drinks a double gin, then a man of the same size will need to drink a triple gin in order to reach the same blood alcohol level.
In addition, there is some evidence that suggests women may break down (metabolise) alcohol slightly differently than blokes. An enzyme called ADH helps break down alcohol in the liver and in the lining of the stomach; studies show that ADH levels are lower in women, which might also account for higher blood alcohol levels.
So the next time she’s hunched in a corner somewhere or getting sick in the back of a taxi, spare a thought for the fact that she just can’t hold as much booze as you.
Now, what better way to finish off than a bit of handy advice, both for yourself and to share with people you’re out with?
- Avoid rounds, it’s fine to skip a round or opt out altogether. You don’t have to keep up woth the fastest drinker.
- Pace your alcoholic drinks by having some water or soft drinks throughout the night
- Keep an eye out for your friends, and get in contact with someone if you haven’t seen them for a while
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