Sleep: The #1 way to sober up

It happens to all of us at some time or other; you drink one too many and then you wish you hadn’t. Whether it was the last vodka shot that crept up on you, or you were drinking on an empty stomach or you were having such a great time, you didn’t realise how much alcohol you had drank. It doesn’t matter. The most effective way to sober up is to sleep while the body is processing the alcohol in your system. Other strategies like drinking coffee, exercising, taking a cold shower, vomiting or eating greasy food may help you feel sober but none of those strategies can change your blood alcohol levels. Time is the only the only thing that lowers the concentration of alcohol in your bloodstream. 

What’s the definition of drunk? 

You are considered drunk not by how you feel but rather by the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) in your bloodstream. As you drink alcohol, your liver processes it however it may not be able to process it at the rate at which you are drinking alcohol and as a result alcohol gets into your bloodstream. This is what police test for in roadside alcohol breath tests.  

In Australia, a full licence holder must be below 0.05% BAC to drive in Australia. That means you need less than 0.05g of alcohol in every 100ml of blood in your bloodstream (1). 

What affects your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

Your BAC is determined by a range of factors and as a result, it is impossible to guarantee a particular set of drinking practices will keep you below the required limit. These factors include: 

• Height 
• Drinking on an empty stomach, or drinking while eating
• Amount of body fat 
• Liver functioning 
• Age 
• Gender 
• Perceived alcohol tolerance
• Any contra-indications from medication
• Strength of what you’re drinking 
• Pace of what you are drinking. 

These factors, and more, explain why two seemingly similar people can drink the same amount and have a different BAC. It also explains why sometimes you may be able to drink more and have a lower BAC than a previous time. 

How sleep helps you to sober up

When you are sleeping the body gets an opportunity to rest and repair. Historically it was thought that sleep was designed to keep us safe from harm in the dark. While this may still be true, there are many reasons why you need to sleep, not least for your well-being.  

Scientific studies show sleep supports the liver to process alcohol by allowing it to complete its functions in metabolizing and detoxifying harmful substances in the body, including alcohol. During sleep, the liver has the time and resources to efficiently break down alcohol into less toxic compounds such as acetic acid, which can be excreted through urine. 

Consistent lack of sleep or disrupted sleep patterns, on the other hand, can impede liver function and contribute to the development of liver diseases, including alcohol-related liver disease (ALD).

Myths about how to get sober quickly, without sleeping

There are many strategies that people use to get sober quickly however the most effective strategy is to stop drinking and allow time to pass. 

In my experience, people confuse the feelings that these strategies give them with the feeling of sobriety. As you will read, none of these 7 strategies below impact your BAC even though you may feel it does.  

• Drinking coffee or other caffeinated drinks: Alcohol can make you feel sleepy, and caffeine is a stimulant, so it does help to stimulate your central nervous system so you feel more alert. However, caffeine has no impact on your metabolism of alcohol and therefore cannot change your BAC. The only thing that caffeine can do is help you to feel more alert and trick you into thinking you’re sober when you’re not. 

• Exercising: It is thought that exercise can help to speed up your metabolism and help you burn off the alcohol in your system quicker however research shows exercise reduces the extent of the oxidative damage caused by ethanol. It is more likely the endorphins that are released when you exercise interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins are also responsible for the positive feeling in the body after exercise. Exercising does not impact your BAC directly. 

• Take a cold shower: A cold shower puts your circulatory system into overdrive, increasing the blood flow to warm your core and vital organs. While a cold shower can wake you up or even give you a second wind, it won’t reverse the effects of alcohol. It has been said that for some people the shock of a cold shower can actually cause them to lose consciousness.

• Vomiting: Vomiting will empty your stomach, which could include recently consumed alcohol. However, vomiting cannot reverse the effect of the alcohol already in your bloodstream. Encouraging a person to vomit can prevent further intoxication, but it won’t speed up the process of getting sober.

• Eating greasy food: Eating food can help absorb some of the alcohol in your system and slow down the rate at which your body absorbs alcohol, but it cannot impact the alcohol that has already entered your bloodstream. 

• Drink water: Alcohol dehydrates the body, so drinking water can help you to rehydrate and help flush out the alcohol from your system. 

• Get fresh air: Going outside and getting some fresh air can help clear your mind and help you feel more alert however it isn’t going to change your BAC.

The only foolproof way to sober up is to wait for your body to metabolise the alcohol you have drank. And this can take a few hours, depending on how much you drank and other factors. 

If you have become reliant on one or more of these strategies, you could benefit from safer approaches to drinking because these methods can only temporarily help you feel like you are less drunk. None of them lowers your BAC. The greatest impact they can have is to temporarily give you a sense of feeling more alert and aware, which still isn’t enough to drive safely, operate machinery or make important decisions. 

If you would like to explore how you can drink less and sleep better, then book in a confidential call where we can discuss your specific situation and possible solutions.

References:

1.   National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol. 2020.
2. Interaction between alcohol and exercise: physiological and haematological implications – PubMed (nih.gov)