Alcohol in the Gastrointestinal System  

Everyone has an enzyme in their stomach designed to process ethanol into a safer substance. The enzyme is called alcohol dehydrogenase. <br><br>When a person drinks alcohol, about 20% of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and 80% is absorbed in the small intestine.<br><br>For reasons that are not yet clear to scientists, the alcohol dehydrogenase in men is 70-80% more effective than the same enzyme in women. There are also age differences - young women and men over 50 years of age have the most difficulty coping with alcohol. Heavy drinkers and people with alcohol problems have severely reduced levels of this important enzyme. <br><br>The longer the stomach has to work on the ethanol, the less harm it can do to your body. When a meal is eaten the exit valve of the stomach closes in order to digest the food.&nbsp; When food and alcohol are consumed at the same time this prevents the alcohol from passing quickly into the small intestine from where it would be rapidly absorbed giving

Everyone has an enzyme in their stomach designed to process ethanol into a safer substance. The enzyme is called alcohol dehydrogenase.

When a person drinks alcohol, about 20% of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and 80% is absorbed in the small intestine.

For reasons that are not yet clear to scientists, the alcohol dehydrogenase in men is 70-80% more effective than the same enzyme in women. There are also age differences - young women and men over 50 years of age have the most difficulty coping with alcohol. Heavy drinkers and people with alcohol problems have severely reduced levels of this important enzyme.

The longer the stomach has to work on the ethanol, the less harm it can do to your body. When a meal is eaten the exit valve of the stomach closes in order to digest the food.  When food and alcohol are consumed at the same time this prevents the alcohol from passing quickly into the small intestine from where it would be rapidly absorbed giving the enzyme more time to work.

The bigger you are the more blood you have in your bloodstream.  Added to this, the average adult male is made up of 66% fluid, compared to 55% for women.  So if you're both the same weight and drink the same amount in one occasion, the woman will end up with a blood-alcohol level a third higher than the man's. It will take a third longer for the woman's body to eliminate the alcohol from the blood. 

Alcohol circulates in the bloodstream until it is processed by to the liver.