Assume you’re a woman dared to a drinking contest by a male. Do you ask for a handicap based on your gender, or do you sit at bar and go drink for drink, trusting in equality of the sexes in all situations?
Although there are always exceptions, typically a man’s body will have more muscle and less fat than a woman’s. Because muscle tissue contains more water than fat tissue, a man’s body contains a higher percentage of water than a woman’s, approximately 60% in comparison to 50%. Alcohol is dissolved in water but not in fat, therefore as the ethanol is moved from the stomach into the blood, it will be distributed in a higher number of a man’s cells than a woman’s. As a result, the concentration of ethanol is higher in a woman’s bloodstream; she will have a higher Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) with the same amount of alcohol intake. Higher BAC results in more ethanol going to the organs, where its intoxicating effects are exerted.
But what if the woman is more muscular than the man, and they weigh more or less the same? She may additionally be hindered by her speed of beer breakdown. Although the majority of ethanol is oxidized in the liver, a small amount is metabolized in the stomach, by an enzyme called gastric alcohol dehydrogenase. Several small studies have proven that in younger women, the activity of this enzyme is drastically lower compared with their male counterparts. Therefore, men are able to break down more ethanol in the stomach, so less is absorbed into the bloodstream.
What women do have working to their advantage, however, is a higher rate of alcohol excretion, though this is based on their lean body mass. Men and women eliminate approximately the same amount of alcohol per unit of weight, but women eliminate more ethanol per unit of lean body mass per hour than men do.