How Many Drinks Does It Take to Get Drunk?

Table of Contents

1. What Does It Take to Get Drunk?
2. Understanding Blood Alcohol Level
3. How to Beat Your Hangover
4. The IV Hangover Cure
5. Think BAC, Not Drinks

Drinking can be a lot of fun, whether you knock back a few beers with friends during the game, sip a few glasses of wine at book club, or throw back shots to celebrate a birthday. Less fun is the hangover you experience in the morning when it feels like a jackhammer is operating inside your skull. If you want to avoid nasty hangovers, it helps to understand how many drinks it takes to get drunk.

Sometimes a party is just too good, and a hangover is the inevitable outcome. In these situations, you’ll need a quick hangover cure. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what alcohol does to your body and how you can manage hangovers. Our recommendation is an IV hangover cure. 

Haven’t heard of IV therapy for hangovers? We’ll tell you all about it at the end of this article. 

What Does It Take to Get Drunk?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a magical number of drinks that would put you over the line between buzzed and drunk? Then you could always know when to stop if you didn’t want to go overboard or at least make the decision to let loose during a specific occasion.

As you know, though, there is no one magic number of drinks that will get you drunk. Instead, many factors play a role in how alcohol will affect you as an individual person. These factors include:

• How much alcohol you drink
• The concentration of alcohol in each drink
• The time between your drinks
• Your body mass
• Your biological gender
• Your age
• Your metabolism
• Whether you drink on a full or empty stomach
• Your alcohol tolerance level
• The medications you are taking

These factors mean two people can drink the same amount of alcohol and experience different levels of intoxication. You may become more intoxicated on one occasion compared to another, even if you have the same number of drinks, depending on the situation. For example, drinking on an empty stomach or consuming drinks more quickly.

For these reasons, when trying to assess your intoxication level, it’s more useful to look at standards like your blood alcohol level rather than focusing on the number of drinks you’ve consumed.

Understanding Blood Alcohol Level

Your blood alcohol level, or BAC, is the percent of alcohol in your bloodstream. When you chug a beer or sip a tasty margarita, alcohol travels to your stomach and then into your small intestine. In both organs, the alcohol will seep into your bloodstream, where it will be carried throughout your body, including to your brain. 

(If you’ve ever wondered why you feel drunk more quickly on an empty stomach, it’s because food will slow down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.) 

The way BAC measurements work is that 0.1% BAC means for 1,000 parts of blood in your body, one part is alcohol. These numbers may not mean much on their own, so it’s good to understand how BAC measurements correlate to real-world symptoms. Here’s a quick chart from Stanford University:

• .03% – You may feel slight changes and mood elevation. No one under 21 may legally drive or bike at this BAC.
• .04% – .06% – You may start to feel relaxed, and your mood may improve. You’ll experience minor impairment.
• .08% – You’ll experience mild impairment at this BAC and are considered legally impaired. No one may legally drive or bike at this BAC.
• .1% – You’ll experience significant impairment at this BAC. You’ll notice changes in speech, vision, and motor control. You may start showing poor judgment. 
• .13% – Gross impairment begins at this BAC. You’ll experience a major loss of balance and motor control, as well as blurred vision. 
• .16% – .2% – You are now “sloppy drunk.” You’ll likely be stumbling and slurring your speech and may feel increasing nausea. 
• .35% – You may lose consciousness at this BAC
• .4% – You may slip into a coma. At this BAC, you are at risk of dying from respiratory failure. 

How to Beat Your Hangover

Sometimes when you party too hard, you have to pay the next day. Hangovers are no fun and can leave you struggling with a variety of unpleasant symptoms, such as:

• Dry mouth
• Headaches
• Nausea and vomiting
• Sensitivity to light
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dizziness
• Muscle aches
• And more 

Fortunately, you aren’t the first person who has ever awoken with a mouth tasting like dust and the sunlight stabbing at your eyes. Over the centuries, humans have concocted a variety of quick hangover cures. Here are a few that have stood the test of time.

Hydration

Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it can make you pee more often. More visits to the restroom mean you are likely to become dehydrated by the next morning. This can explain your dry mouth and headaches. Step one to cure your hangover is to start drinking water. Sip slowly and try to keep hydrating throughout the day.

Electrolytes

Water isn’t the only thing you lose when you “break the seal” during a night of drinking. You also lose electrolytes, including sodium, calcium, and potassium. Electrolytes are essential for your body to function. You can replenish electrolytes by drinking a sports drink, sipping broth, or adding an electrolyte tablet to your water. 

Eat Healthy Foods

Don’t believe the old wives’ tale that a quick hangover cure means chowing down on a greasy meal. Instead, re-energize with healthy, unprocessed foods. Fruits and veggies will give you electrolytes, hydration, vitamins, and complex carbs. Bananas and peanut butter are a great combo of potassium and protein. 

Vitamins 

Drinking alcohol (and especially binging) can cause nutritional deficiencies. Refuel on the vitamins you need. Particularly, focus on taking vitamins B and C. Both vitamins support a healthy immune system and can help you get back on your feet after a hangover. IV therapy for a hangover can be an excellent way to get a healthy dose of vitamins B and C.

The IV Hangover Cure

There are many things you can do to help manage a hangover, but have you ever tried IV hydration therapy for a hangover? IV or intravenous therapy sends a vitamin-infused solution directly to your bloodstream. The vitamins are mixed into a saline solution, which includes electrolytes and can help you quickly and effectively rehydrate, especially if you don’t feel like drinking due to nausea. 

IVs may also include minerals and even medications that can help alleviate headaches, migraines, and upset stomachs. Two of our recommended IV hangover cures are the Myers’ Cocktail and The Rodeo. 

Myers’ Cocktail

This is our most popular all-around cocktail and provides you with a great pick-me-up at an affordable price. The Myers’ Cocktail includes six of our highest-impact vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, including vitamin B complex, vitamin B12, and vitamin C.

The Rodeo

If you need a little more help getting back on your horse after a fun night, The Rodeo is one of our premium IV treatments. It is our number one recommendation for rapid rehydration, hangovers, and vomiting. You’ll get vitamin B complex, vitamin B12, vitamin C, Toradol®, Pepcid, and more.

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Think BAC, Not Drinks

When it’s time to celebrate or simply enjoy an adult beverage, focus less on the number of drinks you consume and more on the factors that affect BAC. Keep in mind that while drinking can be fun and help you have a good time, there’s also a dark side to alcohol. Binging alcohol can lead to poor decisions, injuries, violence, and even death. In the worst cases, alcohol poisoning can cause your organs to shut down.

Always drink responsibly. You are worth preserving! 

When the party ends and the hangover sets in, consider an IV hangover cure. If you live in Texas, schedule IV therapy for a hangover from Lone Star IV Medics. A medical professional from our team can perform the IV treatment in the privacy and comfort of your home. You can choose the Myers’ Cocktail, The Rodeo, or even customize your own IV infusion.

Ready for a quick hangover cure? Schedule your IV therapy today.