You have likely heard the term “blood alcohol content” (BAC) used before. After all, this is a crucial tool in the arsenal of law enforcement. Officers across the nation rely on breath analysis tests to reveal how high your BAC is and if you are driving over the legal limit.
But your BAC level can actually vacillate. There is often a difference between how you feel and what your BAC level reads. In fact, you may feel surprised to know just how subjective BAC levels often are.
Excitement and euphoria levels
Healthline discusses what different BAC levels feel like. First, note that the “excitement” level occurs when you pass tipsy and go to drunk. This level also encompasses BAC levels from 0.09 percent up to 0.25 percent. In other words, if you are drunk, you are already past the legal limit.
The “euphoria” level happens when you are tipsy. It covers from 0.03 percent to 0.12 percent BAC. In other words, you have almost a 50/50 chance of being over the legal limit if you feel tipsy.
How BAC levels reflect your intoxication
But how you feel does not always relate to your BAC level. Many different factors can impact how your body processes and handles alcohol. Your age, weight and gender play a role. So does the medications you are taking, the food you eat before drinking and your hydration levels.
Even different alcohols can impact the body in different ways. For example, one person may have a higher tolerance to beer than wine. Another may have stronger tolerance for tequila than whiskey.
In other words, it is almost impossible to predict how “drunk” one or two alcoholic drinks will make you feel. This is why experts so often suggest against getting behind the wheel even after one drink.
