Detection and General Deterrence Standardized Field Sobriety Test Course Getting the ethanol out of the stomach and into the blood Absorption of Alcohol

Session 2 – Detection and General Deterrence

Standardized Field Sobriety Test Course

Getting the ethanol

out of the stomach

and into the blood

Absorption of Alcohol

2-46

Stomach

Walls Stomach

Walls

Stomach

Walls

Pylorus

80 percent

20 percent

Once the ethanol gets into the stomach, it has to move into the blood. The process by

which this happens is known as absorption. One very important fact that pertains to

alcohol absorption is that it doesn't have to be digested in order to move from the

stomach to the blood.

Another very important fact is that alcohol can pass directly through the walls of the

stomach. These two facts, taken together, mean that, under the right circumstances,

absorption of alcohol can be accomplished fairly quickly. The ideal circumstance for

rapid absorption is to drink on an empty stomach.

When the alcohol enters the empty stomach, about 20 % of it will make its way directly

through the stomach walls. The remaining 80 % will pass through the stomach and

enter the small intestine, from which it is readily absorbed into the blood. Because the

body doesn't need to digest the alcohol before admitting it into the bloodstream, the

small intestine will be open to the alcohol as soon as it hits the stomach.

But what if there is food in the stomach? Suppose the person has had something to eat

shortly before drinking, or eats food while drinking; will that affect the absorption of

alcohol?

Yes it will. Food has to be at least partially digested in the stomach before it can pass to

the small intestine. When the brain senses that food is in the stomach, it commands a

muscle at the base of the stomach to constrict, and cut off the passage to the small

intestine. The muscle is called the pylorus, or pyloric valve. As long as it remains

constricted, little or nothing will move out of the stomach and into the small intestine. If

alcohol is in the stomach along with the food, the alcohol will also remain trapped

behind the pylorus. Some of the alcohol trapped in the stomach will begin to break

down chemically before it ever gets into the blood. In time, as the digestive process

continues, the pylorus will begin to relax, and some of the alcohol and food will pass

through. But the overall effect will be to slow the absorption significantly. Because the

alcohol only slowly gets into the blood, and because the body will continue to process

and eliminate the alcohol that does manage to get in there, the drinker's BAC will not

climb as high as it would have if he or she had drunk on an empty stomach.

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HS 178 R5/13 32 of 39Source: DWI Detection and

Standardized Field

Sobriety Testing

March 2013 Edition