Why Can Some People Drink More Than Others?
Some people can appear to 'handle' more alcohol than others. While one glass of wine can make someone quite tipsy, it can also appear to do nothing to others in terms of exhibiting drunken behaviours.
So why can some people handle their alcohol better than others?
The Body Adapts
One of the reasons is something called tolerance. The brain and body are remarkably adaptable. When a substance is repeatedly introduced into the system, the body can adjust to its presence.
The body and brain are not really designed to be stimulated regularly and to the level that our modern stimulants provide. The brain has mechanisms to bring the body back to a semblance of balance, also known as homeostasis. One of these mechanisms creates a sense of tolerance, an adaptive method to help the body cope with excessive stimulants.
With repeated alcohol use, one effect of tolerance is that the drinker won't feel tipsy with one drink anymore, it may take two or three to feel the same effects as one drink used to. Tolerance is one recognisable consequence of repeated alcohol exposure.
Getting Used To The Feeling
Imagine the first time someone drinks alcohol. A relatively small amount might make them feel relaxed, dizzy, sleepy or uncoordinated rather quickly. The body experiences it for the first time, breaks it down and then learns. If they repeatedly expose themselves to alcohol, the nervous system and body processes can adapt to the presence of the drug.
The person may then appear to "handle" alcohol better. They don't stumble around, or appear to show the behaviour of someone drinking. But this doesn't mean the alcohol has stopped affecting their body. The individual may simply notice the effects less strongly. This is an important distinction.
Someone who feels completely normal after several drinks still has alcohol in their bloodstream. The process of breaking down alcohol remains the same regardless of how much a person drinks. The ethanol is in the system, being broken down by the liver and causing some internal issues.
Tolerance changes the experience. It doesn't make ethanol harmless.
It's Not Just Tolerance
Tolerance isn't the only reason people respond differently to alcohol.
People naturally vary in how their bodies process alcohol, and genetics can influence the enzymes involved in breaking ethanol down. Body composition, sex, whether someone has eaten and how quickly they are drinking can also affect blood alcohol levels and how alcohol feels.
So when someone says that they can hold their drink or simply appear to be normal after having had a few, what they actually mean is that their body, brain and previous experiences have made the effects feel less obvious in the moments of drinking.
The interesting thing is that this is not unique to alcohol. The same mechanism occurs with addictive drugs, tobacco and coffee. Even with things like gambling. We can create tolerance to these external stimuli when they are more intense than what our ancestors would have experienced in the natural world.
In the case of alcohol, that adaptation can be useful in making the immediate effects feel less intense, but it can also mean that more alcohol is consumed to achieve the same feeling. This can be dangerous for health.
The person hasn't necessarily become better at drinking. Their biology has simply adapted to something it is repeatedly being exposed to.
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