Knowing how much wine is going to get you drunk is vital if you want to drink. Whether it is a work occasion or a party at your friend’s house, knowing your amount is going to come in handy. But, wine sets in about half an hour after you start drinking. You may drink more alcohol to feel tipsy when, in fact, it just hasn’t hit you yet. The only way to prevent this is by knowing how many glasses is enough for you personally. So, how much wine to get drunk?
If you weigh under 250 lbs, then two glasses of wine in an hour is going to make you “legally drunk.” The effects of your wine are going to set in approximately 30 minutes after drinking.
Why Should I Know About How Much Wine I Need?
Many people think they will just guess how much wine will get them drunk, and others just go with the flow and only stop once they feel like it’s enough. Both these techniques are pretty unreliable unless you know yourself completely. But most of the time, that’s not the case, is it?
Here is why you should always know how much wine it takes for you to start dancing on tables.
Knowing Your Body
The first important reason why you need to know how much wine will get you drunk is so you can take this opportunity to learn about your body. Most people will be surprised at how uninformed they are on this topic.
By knowing this specific piece of information, you will know how much alcohol you need, so you can know just when to put the wine glass down. This is also going to help prevent hangovers and the vomiting that comes before it. All you are going to need is a bit of math.
Formalities
Author Note: Let’s be honest, we drink more during stressful times, and these are usually during most business parties and birthday parties. So, if you are constantly in your head and alcohol is your way to escape these thoughts, then you are surely going to end up going over your limits.
This can result in some embarrassing and awkward moments, which could easily be avoided if you had done your calculations beforehand.
It’s fun to get drunk at parties with your friends, but this won’t be good during business events. Your colleagues and bosses will surely notice once the alcohol has gone to your head, so don’t even think about hiding it.
Saving Money
If you can count the amount of wine you need to get drunk, this means you will also be able to figure out how much others need. So the next time you host a dinner party with wine, you won’t overbuy, saving yourself a lot of money. Even if you are having a solo night of drinking, you will still be saving.
What Decides How Much Wine I Can Take?
There are a few core factors that together determine how much wine you can drink without becoming too drunk.
Gender
Females naturally have a higher amount of body fat (that retains alcohol) and less water (that aids to disperse it) when compared to males. Because of these two factors, women tend to experience drunkenness for a much longer time, but the intensity is almost the same.
Aside from that, women make less ADH (alcohol dehydrogenase). This is an enzyme released by the liver to break down the alcohol in your body. The less of it there is, the more susceptible the drinker is to becoming drunk.
Weight
This one is pretty easy to understand. With more body mass, you are going to need more alcohol to get drunk. It is a well-known fact that larger mass requires more wine, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Recent Meal
If you are drinking with your stomach empty, then you are going to get drunk very easily. You can retain your soberness if you are drinking after having eaten a full meal. This is because if your stomach is empty, then the alcohol can quickly pass right into your small intestine, so it is absorbed much quicker. Meanwhile, if there is something in its path, then it will have a lighter effect because of slower absorption. The alcohol isn’t going to hit your head right away, so you will need more wine to get drunk.
Muscle Mass
This one is interesting, isn’t it? When someone has a high muscle mass, they are going to need more alcohol to get drunk. Did you expect the opposite?
Well, the science explaining it is simple. You either have fat, muscle, or nothing. Fat retains alcohol; meanwhile, nothing does nothing. But muscles have a significant amount of water, so your drink will be diluted and pass through your body much more easily.
Carbonation
This part is not very closely studied, but by personal experience, we have understood that carbonation leads to faster absorption, meaning you will get drunk faster. The studies on this are non-conclusive, but by relying solely on other people’s experiences, then you will notice a pattern yourself. Many people get drunk easily from carbonated drinks in a shorter amount of time when compared to those drinking non-carbonated drinks.
Levels Of Drunkenness
There is no such thing as a precise line between being drunk and being sober. If only there was a way to know for sure. Instead, you may be considered drunk even if you only drank a glass of wine, but it’s only a low level of drunkenness. So, without much ado, let’s talk about the levels of being drunk.
Low Intoxication (0.01-0.05 BAC)
Author Note: This will happen when you drink next to nothing. Two sips from a glass of wine or up to half a can of beer. Regardless of whichever you had, this is the phase of still being “sober.” This means that the alcohol isn’t going to affect your body, and you will be acting like you normally do.
Tipsy or Euphoric (0.03-0.12 BAC)
This is the level of consuming 1-2 alcoholic drinks under an hour, so you begin to feel something. You will seem warm, happy, and super confident. This is the stage where people start to more like themselves by easing up and not keeping up appearances of being polite and fitting in. In a more professional environment, this is the stage you should keep yourself at. It will help you relax and be more self-confident.
You may experience these during this stage:
- Slowed motor responses
- Short attention span
- Decreasing short-term memory
Excitement (0.09-25 BAC)
This is the stage at which an average person would be considered drunk. You are going to start losing your focus, slurring your words, and your motor skills will become terrible at this point. If you consume about four drinks in an hour, you will be at this stage.
Aside from being overly active and energized, there is no other advantage to being his drunk.
Some symptoms of this stage are:
- Mood swings
- Drowsiness
- Blurred vision
- Coordination and balance problems
- Trouble making judgments
Confusion (0.18-0.30 BAC)
This is the stage of having had five drinks in an hour. Now it is starting to get a little too much. Your happiness will slowly start to wear off and be replaced by a worse mood. This is going to cause lots of emotional instability, and you may have a breakdown or cry.
Some signs of this stage are:
- Complete loss of coordination
- Trouble walking and standing still
- Fainting
- Confusion
- No feeling of pain
The Rest
Author Note: The stages after this are destructive to the body and overall provide a horrible feeling. Going past this stage may also require calling an ambulance for help, and alcohol poisoning is surely not an enjoyable experience.
Some symptoms of further stages are:
Calculations
Sadly, there is no way to measure whether you really are drunk or not. What you can calculate is BAC, which will help you understand which glass will be your last.
Alcohol.org is a website with a reliable calculator, but this doesn’t take carbonation, eating, and muscle mass into consideration. If you need a really quick estimation of your BAC, then you can use this calculator.
Now let’s discuss an average example. If you are a woman and you are inviting a few friends over for dinner to enjoy wine, then you can easily calculate the BAC. Let’s imagine you are 150 pounds and have drunk five glasses of wine in about an hour. A pretty reasonable number. The calculator is going to tell you that your BAC is 0.19%, that you may start to feel nauseous, and vomiting is up next. And, of course, you are way above 0.08% BAC, so you shouldn’t be sitting anywhere near the wheel.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, a lot goes into what you feel after a glass of wine. Remember that wine is a delicacy and should be enjoyed instead of consumed just to get drunk. Wine is a drink for fancy parties and delicious homemade dishes, so invite your friends over to celebrate the new year!
Now is the ideal time to open that specific bottle of wine you have been saving. If you need to, you can calculate your BAC during the party, just to see what stage you are at. When there is a possibility to avoid vomiting, why wouldn’t you? We hope you enjoyed this article on how much wine to get drunk. Drink safely and enjoy your evenings!
To living a full-bodied life,
Wesley