Food & Wine Festival Tips

This post goes along with my cocktail article on the blog tomorrow - I needed a place to put a little more information on drinking around the world responsibly! Thanks to Becks for sharing her knowledge with us!

Okay, in general the average person can metabolize 1 serving of alcohol in about an hour. Just so we're comparing apples to apples, medically speaking 1 serving is considered a 12 oz beer, a 5 oz glass of wine or 1 oz of hard liquor since they all contain about the same amount of alcohol. Definitely something to consider since some mixed drinks probably contain more than 1 oz of booze and most wine pours are about 8 oz.

Strictly speaking, I would say that responsible drinking would be no more than 1 serving of alcohol per hour accompanied with 8-12 oz of water. People metabolize alcohol at different rates based on body weight and gender. Men generally have more muscle mass and a higher metabolism so they will burn it off faster. A lot of this really depends on the individual. Women get drunk on less booze faster because our stomachs work more slowly. Alcohol is absorbed directly in the stomach and small intestine, so having food in your stomach or eating while drinking will slow the absorption. Since women have slower gastric emptying time, we will have HIGHER blood alcohol levels than a man after drinking LESS. Tolerance plays a big factor here; for instance, despite my high body weight I have a very low tolerance for alcohol since I'm essentially a non-drinker. A woman who weighs considerably less than me but who drinks regularly will tend to have a higher tolerance.

Alcohol is definitely not going to be a good idea in the heat and sun! Alcohol inhibits the production of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) which helps regulate the fluid balance in your body. Basically, it shuts off the mechanism that tells your kidneys to reabsorb water and keep it IN your body and you're peeing like a racehorse. So imagine this vicious circle: you have 2 or 3 beers, oh wow you really have to pee, you loose that water, your body triggers your thirst center, you have another beer, you pee even more, you're even thirstier, etc.

Bottom line - go slow, have a good meal, drink way more water than you think you need to (at least 1 glass of water for every alcoholic drink) and if you've been drinking AT ALL - DO NOT DRIVE. Period. Co-ordination and judgement start getting impaired well before the legal definition of "drunk", usually at a blood alcohol level of .04 or .06. Unfortunately I can't tell you what that 1 serving equals a BAC of X percentage because it depends of how much, how fast and how much you weigh and your tolerance.

This is the stuff I found on the Florida DMV page about first DUI's:

First Conviction
Even your first DUI mistake can cost you more than just dollars:

Fines of $250 to $500. If you have a BAC of .20 or higher, or were driving with a minor in the car, your fine will be anywhere from $500 to $1000.
Community service. Mandatory 50 hours, or an additional fine equaling $10 per required hour.
Probation of no more than one year.
Jail time of at least eight hours, but could last up to six months. For BAC of .20 or higher, the sentence could last nine months.
Jail time of at least two years if you kill or injure someone.
Vehicle impoundment for 10 days (not counted during your incarceration)
Driver license revoked for a six month minimum

Great tip!! I've found this one especially useful when we've been on the Deluxe Dining Plan because we've had more than enough snack credits to taste what we wanted and saved table service credits so that we could double up on other nights and do some signature dining.