Drinking alcohol at night, will the alcohol concentration be 0 in the morning?

How the body processes alcohol

When you drink alcohol, your body absorbs alcohol into your bloodstream and processes it in your liver. But your liver can only break down alcohol at a certain rate, on average about 0.015% BAC (blood alcohol concentration) per hour.

Your blood alcohol concentration depends on how much alcohol you drink, your weight, your metabolic rate, whether you eat before and while drinking, how fast you drink…

For example, if your BAC is 0.08%, it will take your body about 5-6 hours to eliminate all the alcohol. So whether your BAC will be 0 in the morning depends a lot on how much you drank and when you stopped drinking.

How long does alcohol stay in your body?

Alcohol is eliminated from the body at a steady rate. Here is a table for reference:

For example, if you drink four glasses of wine at 10 p.m. and your BAC reaches around 0.08% at midnight, it will take your body at least 5-6 hours to process all the alcohol. So your BAC could be close to 0% by 6 a.m. the next day. But if you drink more, your BAC will still be in your blood at that time.

Factors affecting blood alcohol concentration

- Drinking on an empty stomach: If you drink on an empty stomach, alcohol is absorbed faster and BAC increases faster.

- Weight and gender: Smaller people and women tend to have higher BACs after drinking the same amount of alcohol as men, because they have less water in their bodies to dilute the alcohol.

- Type of drink: Strong drinks (like whiskey or vodka) can raise BAC faster than beer or wine.

- Age and metabolism: Older people's bodies tend to process alcohol more slowly than younger people's.

Does sleeping help you get rid of alcohol faster?

Many people think that sleeping helps you get rid of alcohol faster, but this is a misconception. Your liver processes alcohol at the same rate whether you are asleep or awake. However, sleeping can help you feel more alert by helping your body recover from drinking.

There is no way to speed up the process of eliminating alcohol. The liver works at its own pace and is difficult to speed up. Drinking coffee or taking a cold shower will only help you sober up, but it will not lower your BAC. The only way to reduce your alcohol level is to wait it out.

Signs of alcohol in the body

If you drink a lot of alcohol the night before, you may wake up feeling hungover and still have alcohol in your system. Signs include dizziness, lightheadedness, slow reaction times, difficulty concentrating, nausea or headaches…

If you need to drive the next morning, be careful. Even if you don't feel drunk, you may still be found to have alcohol in your blood.

So, your blood alcohol level can be 0% the next morning if you drink light to moderate amounts and stop drinking early in the evening. For example, if you drink 2 cans of beer at 9pm, your BAC can be 0% by 2am. But if you drink 5 glasses of wine at 11pm, your BAC can still be above 0% at 7am the next day. Drinking too much after midnight can leave you with alcohol in your blood the next morning.

If you are unsure, do not drive early in the morning, wait a few hours or use a breathalyzer to test.