Does one drink generally keep your blood alcohol level under .08?

[eflat]

I was just having this argument with my parents. They said that one drink would put you over the legal limit (assuming you weight 150+).

It's always been my general rule of thumb that one drink you're fine and an hour wait for every next beverage.

 

[SoulAssassin]

one drink won't put you over (unless it's unusually strong)...one drink an hour will catch up to you

 

[Praxis1452]

1 drink what!?

 

[akshatp]

If you drink the whole bottle in one sip, then yes, that one drink will put you over the limit.

But one normal drink; ie one beer, one shot, one glass of wine will NOT put you over the limit of .08

 

[eflat]

Originally posted by: Praxis1452
1 drink what!?

"One drink" is generally one beer, 1 glass of wine, a shot - go to a bar and all these drinks will have a the same alcohol level.

 

[userman]

Originally posted by: akshatp
If you drink the whole bottle in one sip, then yes, that one drink will put you over the limit.

But one normal drink; ie one beer, one shot, one glass of wine will NOT put you over the limit of .08

But have one more every hour will.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: userman

Originally posted by: akshatp
If you drink the whole bottle in one sip, then yes, that one drink will put you over the limit.

But one normal drink; ie one beer, one shot, one glass of wine will NOT put you over the limit of .08

But have one more every hour will.

But that wasn't the question in the OP...

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

What if I cant hold my alcohol?

 

[mwmorph]

One drink is generally .03 for a 150lbs male.

 

[moshquerade]

no, one won't raise your bal to .08.

 

[benzylic]

Doesn't it also depend on if you're drinking on an empty stomach or not?

 

[everman]

Generally one will not do it, but I guess it's possible depending on the person.

 

[spidey07]

It depends on your body mass as well as how your body deals with alcohol.

Two drinks can for sure push somebody over the limit. The fact that you are arguing this with you parents means you should take their advice.

 

[jdoggg12]

BAC is simply the amount of alcohol present in your blood stream. Most likely 1 drink will not put you ator over .08 unless you're very small. Each BAC (.08 foe example) will affect different people in different ways. Some will feel a strong buzz at that level, while others will not even notice its in their system. Food in your stomach doesn't affect the amount of alcohol in your blood, just the rate at which it gets absorbed.

The law has to draw a line somewhere though, and (in CA) that line is .08.

 

[Sukhoi]

One an hour will put you over .08?! I thought the body metabolizes one per hour.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
One an hour will put you over .08?! I thought the body metabolizes one per hour.

That's in general. Could be different for different people.

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: everman
Generally one will not do it, but I guess it's possible depending on the person.

OP states that he is talking about a 150+ male specifically...

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug
I was just having this argument with my parents. They said that one drink would put you over the legal limit (assuming you weight 150+).

It's always been my general rule of thumb that one drink you're fine and an hour wait for every next beverage.

Just to clarify....

the one drink per hour is a "general rule of thumb". It doesn't mean it's fact. Every person reacts differently.

a lightweight 150 pound male is gonna get hammered off of a few drinks within 2 hours.

Basically, you're parents are right.

 

[eflat]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug
I was just having this argument with my parents. They said that one drink would put you over the legal limit (assuming you weight 150+).

It's always been my general rule of thumb that one drink you're fine and an hour wait for every next beverage.

Just to clarify....

the one drink per hour is a "general rule of thumb". It doesn't mean it's fact. Every person reacts differently.

a lightweight 150 pound male is gonna get hammered off of a few drinks within 2 hours.

Basically, you're parents are right.

Define a few

And if you read the thread, no, they were not correct. The consensus was that a 150lb male will generally not get near .08 with one drink.

 

[SlitheryDee]

The simple answer is no. Your parents are wrong on that issue, but they shouldn't even be arguing with you on technicalities. You should both be honest with each other. They probably don't want you to drink at all and you probably don't intend to have "just one" the next time you drink.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug
I was just having this argument with my parents. They said that one drink would put you over the legal limit (assuming you weight 150+).

It's always been my general rule of thumb that one drink you're fine and an hour wait for every next beverage.

Just to clarify....

the one drink per hour is a "general rule of thumb". It doesn't mean it's fact. Every person reacts differently.

a lightweight 150 pound male is gonna get hammered off of a few drinks within 2 hours.

Basically, you're parents are right.

Define a few

And if you read the thread, no, they were not correct. The consensus was that a 150lb male will generally not get near .08 with one drink.

It depends on the person.

one drink "can" put a light person (150 pounds) over the limit. not likely at all, but can.

two drinks within an hour are pushing it for somebody that small.

 

[Zolty]

I have a breathalizer and based on my unscientific testing, 1 beer generally puts me at about 0.01-0.015, I am 200lbs.

 

[Lounatik]

I have a Commercial Drivers License and .04 is my legal limit. Kinda like "Wow, sweetie that sure is some fine perfume you got on there. I better not drive."


Peace

Lounatik

 

[Arkaign]

I make a Vodka+Rum+Everclear drink that rocks 1 is enough

 

[BurnItDwn]

Assumptions .... (obviously, it is necessary to have data. I estimated and approximated where data was not provided)

The volume of blood in the average male body is approx 75ml per KG of body mass.
1 drink of normal beer is 480ml at 5% abv (1 pint). There are 24ml of alcohol in this drink.
1 drink of strong barleywine/quad beer is 480ml at 13% abv (1 pint) There are 62.4ml of alcohol in this drink.

150 pounds is about 68KG.
So, a 150 pound male has around 5100ml of blood in their body.

If somehow magicly 100% of all the alcohol hit the bloodstream at the same time ...
Drinking 1 pint of 5% abv beer will resurt in a BAL of 0.047 ... or less than .08.
Drinking 1 pint of 13% abv beer will resurt in a BAL of 0.12 ... or greater than .08.

12 oz of beer is approx 355ml. (can or bottle normal size.) at 5%, you are talking about 17.5ml of alcohol.
100% alcohol absorbed into 5100ml of blood would result in a BAL of 0.034

If you mean "a shot" or mixed drink by 1 drink .... then for every 1oz of 80 proof vodka or rum you have approx 12ml of alcohol.
Each 1oz of 80 proof liquor would dillute to approx .024BAL ....

The only way 1 drink will get your BAL over .08% if you are a male who weighs about 150 pounds is if you have very little blood, or if you drink a very strong drink.

In general, it is not theoretically possible to get your BAL over .08% with 1 drink, as there simply is not enough alcohol in the single drink.




That said ....
Everybody has different tolerances.

One person may feel "perfectly normal" with a BAL of .06 while somebody else might be "buzzing" with a BAL of .03 .....
So .... be responsible. If you drink, don't drive. If you have 1, and feel "normal", then you're probably OK, but don't take any stupid risks ....


Edit --> Corrected my incorrect math. (I was off by a factor of 10.) Not good