How Long Does Alcohol Stay in the Body or System?

How long does alcohol stay in your body or system is a question often asked for many reasons. Some responsible drinkers may want to know this so that they can gauge how much to drink at a social function and still be able to drive home unimpaired.

Other responsible types may want to know this so that they can monitor their teenage kids who have new found freedom and just starting to go to parties where there could be alcohol on hand. Still others are researching this for school or for other academic reasons.

Now, too, there are some irresponsible reasons to research the question of how long does alcohol stay in your system or body. Like high school or college students studying to pass a test, some people want to know how much they can drink and for how long in order to pass the test so they won't get a DUI or DWI on the way home.

Other people such as pilots may be subjected to random drug and alcohol tests. This could be responsible (I don't want to fly drunk or get fired) or it could be irresponsible (I want to game the system).

People who are alcoholics and considering rehab may have a different take on the question of how long does alcohol stay in your system or body. They may be thinking of entering a detox rehab center and want to know how long they will be suffering before the alcohol symptoms wear off.

For those not going into rehab, the rule of thumb is that height, weight, age and gender make a difference in metabolizing alcohol. Up to 10-percent of alcohol is expelled through your breath, urine and sweat.

A person's Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is expelled generally at a rate of 0.10 to 0.20 BAC per hour with 0.15 BAC being the average. So, in other words, for most people, alcohols stays in the body approximately 10 to 13 hours before being either metabolized by the liver and other organs or expelled by the breath, urine and sweat.

Now, for alcoholics seeking rehab there is a longer journey involved. Even though, alcohol stays in the body generally less than 24 hours, the effects of alcohol detox can last 3 to 6 weeks.

This is because long term alcohol abuse changes the physiology and biology of a person in a significant way. Alcohol depresses the central nervous system so that neurotransmitters and serotonin are affected and need time to stabilize.

So, as you can see the answer to how long does alcohol stay in your body or system is based upon the intent of the person asking the question. It is important to know your own intent to see which category you personally fit into.