Alcohol
The Chemistry of Alcohol
• Ethyl alcohol, is the psychoactive component in alcoholic beverages
• Sugar from fruit, berries, vegetables or grains combines with yeast in the air to make ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide
• Fermentation yields a potential of 14% alcohol
• Distillation, invented c. 800 A.D. by the Arabs, can yield up to 100% ethyl alcohol

Proof of Alcohol
• When alcohol reaches 50% alcohol it can be ignited with a flame providing PROOF that a drink contains alcohol
• Proof = 2 times the amount of alcohol in a beverage
 80 proof equals 40% alcohol
 190 proof equals 95% alcohol

Alcohol Use, Abuse and Dependence
• Approximately 65% of Americans use alcohol
 35% are very light drinkers
 22% are light to moderate drinkers
 8% are heavy drinkers
• Over 90% of college students reported using alcohol within the last 12 months during 1992
• Approximately 8 million Americans are alcoholics

Alcohol Contents
• Serving Sizes
 12 oz. Beer
 7 oz. Malt liquor
 5 oz. Wine
 10 oz. Wine cooler
 1.5 oz. Distilled spirits (80 proof liquor)

• All contain approximately the same amount of alcohol per serving
• Alcohol provides 7 calories of energy per gram

Blood Alcohol Concentration
• BAC = The percent of alcohol that is in the blood
• BAC is generally related to:
 Body weight
 Gender (women metabolize virtually no alcohol in the stomach and because they generally have more fat than men they have less blood to dilute the alcohol)
 Drinking rate
 Stomach contents (before and during drinking)
 Carbonation (relaxes pylorus and allows for quicker absorption)