Abstract:
This cross-over, quasi-experimental study of food and alcohol consumption
patterns and breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) aimed to compare the differences in
BrAC levels in relation to various food and alcohol consumption patterns. The sample
was thirty healthy Thai men, aged between 20 - 40 years old. Each subject consumed
the same types of food and alcoholic drink everyday but they followed five different
patterns of consumption over a five-day period.
BrAC levels at 1, 15, 90, 120, 150, and 180 minutes after consuming food and
alcohol were different (p-value < 0.05). At 30, 45, and 60 minutes after the
consumption, there were no significant differences between average BrAC (p-value >
0.05) in each person. Consumption patterns I - IV, in which the sample consumed
food along with alcohol, mostly resulted in similar average BrACs throughout the
study. However the BrACs from food and alcohol consumption patterns I- IV were
compared with the concentration from consuming alcohol only on an empty stomach
(pattern V), and the comparison demonstrated a significant difference (p-value < 0.05).
The BrAC was at the highest level in the first minute in every consumption pattern.
When comparing the elimination rates, it was noted that consuming alcohol before
eating food resulted in a faster alcohol elimination rate than the groups having alcohol
on an empty stomach. It was also found that the half-life of alcohol in groups
consuming alcohol before eating food was also shorter.
Alcohol should not be drunk on an empty stomach because such consumption
results in low alcohol elimination rate, leading to slow elimination of alcohol from the
body (long half-life). Alcohol is then stored in the body, causing higher risk of alcohol
intoxication.