The universal rate at which alcohol is broken down is .15BAC an hour, (BAC is blood alcohol content), now for someone to have a BAC of .15 is extremely high, typically for this to be completely out of your system takes roughly 10-12 hours. So it would be safe to assume that after 24 hours no matter how much you have consumed, unless you’re comatose from alcohol poisoning, it should already have left your system.
Below is a chart to show how long various alcohol levels will remain in your system and detectable:
BAC LEVEL
TIME IN HOURS
1. .1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7
2. .08Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5.3
3. .05Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3.3
4. .02Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1.3
Now the results from this study clearly indicate that these times were from people who had eaten three square meals that day and were also someone who consumed alcohol 2-3 times a week. Please take into account if you are not an avid drinker, or you have not eaten a good meal that day, that the times may be considerably longer. These times can be upwards of a full 24 hours if the conditions are right. Personally, I recommend eating at least an hour or two before you begin drinking, this will allow the body’s metabolism to start speeding up before hand. This way the alcohol will begin to immediately break down upon entering your body.
Some people prefer to eat while they are drinking; this is useful as well because some of the alcohol will be absorbed into the unprocessed food. My best advice above all is to have a glass of water or two when you’re finished drinking, this will allow your body to replenish the lost water because of the alcohol, and also help dilute and remaining alcohol in your body.
