a) Statement: Beer and wine are safer than liquor.
Fact: Alcohol is alcohol. It can cause you problems no matter how you consume it. One 355ml bottle of beer or a 150ml glass of wine (about half a cup) has as much alcohol as a 45ml shot of liquor. Mixed drinks often contain more alcohol than beer.
b) Statement: You can sober up quickly with a cup of coffee.
Fact: Coffee does not make you sober up quicker rather it makes you feel more alert and awake. Caffeine does not help your body to process alcohol faster so the only way is to give time to your body to break down the alcohol in your system.
c) Statement: Drinking is safe in moderation.
Fact: Moderate alcohol consumption may have some health benefits. However, that doesn’t mean it’s risk-free. For some people, the risks might outweigh the possible benefits. These include people who:
- are pregnant or trying to get pregnant
- take medications that interact with alcohol
- plan to drive or operate machinery
- have heart failure or a weak heart
- have had a stroke
- have liver or pancreatic disease
- have Alcohol Use Disorder, alcohol dependence, or a family history of either
d) Statement: Anyone who passes out from drinking too much should be put to bed and allowed to “sleep it off”.
Fact: As alcohol slows down the heart rate and breathing and lowers the blood pressure, the person that has passed out from drinking too much should not be left alone. The person should be monitored closely as the amount of alcohol it takes to make you pass out is dangerously close to the amount it takes to kill you so if there is a reason to be concerned, the person should get medical attention immediately.
e) Statement: Mixing drinks makes you more intoxicated.
Fact: It is the total amount of alcohol in all the different drinks combined, which will determine the level of intoxication, not the actual switching between different kinds of drinks. Alcohol is alcohol. However, people who mix drinks may be drinking more alcohol because they are trying different kinds, resulting in a higher concentration of alcohol.
f) Statement: Switching between drinks causes a hangover.
Fact: The amount of alcohol consumed, and the concentration of congeners (toxic substances produced during the fermentation of the alcoholic product) determines if a person will suffer from a hangover. The hangover is not caused by switching between types.
g) Statement: Fizzy (carbonated) alcoholic drinks affect you more rapidly in comparison with a non-fizzy alcoholic drink of the same percentage of alcohol.
Fact: Carbonation causes the valve between the stomach and small intestine to open, a fact that allows alcohol to enter the bloodstream more rapidly from the small intestine in the case of consuming a fizzy (carbonated) alcoholic drink.
