How are some people "heavyweights" (naturally alcohol resistant)

[Steps]

Some people are considered "heavyweights" when it comes to drinking alcohol... including myself... I don't understand how a ridiculous natural resistance to ethanol works..

1 drink = 0.6oz alcohol = 1 5% beer = 1 13% 4.5oz glass of wine = 1 40% 1.5oz shot

I'm 180lbs, male, I drink once maybe every 4-8 weeks, and do no sedative drugs, so there is no cross tolerance.

I can finish 4 drinks within 10 minutes, and hardly feel a buzz when it kicks in, and the buzz is very short lived, and almost nonexistent..

I actually finished 7 drinks within 40 minutes, and I got a buzz, I was not drunk at all, I just seemed a bit more relaxed, I can pass field sobriety tests, talk perfectly, and even typing on my phone is flawless... But I wasn't even buzzed enough to sleep, even though it was midnight..
I ended up falling asleep maybe 3-4 hours later, and the buzz was already long gone by 1am

I witnessed a friend of mine once actually finished 45 "drinks" over the course of a day (around 15 hours) without getting drunk, just maintaining a buzz... but that doesn't make sense...

The alcohol elimination rate from the body is 0.6oz alcohol per hour... how is it that the alcohol after 45 drinks didnt build up and build up to cause alcohol poisoning?

Is there a genetic component to alcohol resistance?

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Is there a genetic component to alcohol resistance?

Yes there is. Look up "alcohol tolerance gene" or "genetic alcohol tolerance" - there are a bunch of studies on it. Around 10-20% of people have an extremely low natural tolerance to alcohol and around 10-20% have an extremely high natural tolerance to alcohol. It also seems to be affected by ancestry, for example most people of Asian background I've known seem to have a low tolerance.

ETA: And as for the science behind it:
1. different people have different levels of sensitivity to the effects of alcohol
2. different people have different levels of enzymes that metabolize alcohol
3. the alcohol elimination rate varies from person to person:

Elimination occurs at a constant rate for a given individual. The median rate of decrease in blood alcohol content is considered to be 15 milligrams per cent (mg% ) per hour. The range of decrease in BAC is 10-20 mg% per hour. This range represents the ends of the rate encountered in a normal population. Most people eliminate at a rate of between 13 and 18 mg% per hour. Of these, the majority eliminates at the higher end. Few people eliminate at as low a rate as 10 mg% per hour.

Related reading: metabolism and excretion of alcohol

 

[i are spectre]

varying amounts of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetylaldehyde dehydrogenase, via genetics; the enzymes necessary to oxidize the toxic ethanol to non-toxic acetic acid.

 

[Steps]

So you're telling me I'm probably some sort of ultra-fast metabolizer?

 

[jdpaul88]

Of alcohol you may have a lot of the alcohol dehydrogenase and acetylaldehyde dehydrogenase as Spectre said

 

[podsnomo]

Are you 180lbs and tall, or short with more fat tissue? That plays a role as well. On the other hand, if you're lean, young, healthy, and active, you're gonna metabolize the shit out of everything.

I was like this and knew people like this too. For me, I'd drink like hell for a while and not feel anything much, then a threshold would seem to be crossed and BOOM. Near-zero to drunktasticallly fucked in just a wag of dog's tail. Man, those were the days. Now I'm a recovering alcoholic!

 

[DooMMooD]

It is actually postulated that there are actually certain genetic factors as well at work that can make people "natural heavyweights" in the sense that they dont "practice" or work on a tolerance. Just 2 examples in mice, I'm sure there are HUNDREDS of other possible genes in human beings, but heres 2 examples:

Mice mutated with a defective Per2 gene drink three times more alcohol than normal...

Mice with low levels of neuropeptide Y drink more alcohol, whereas those with higher levels tend to abstain.

Just 2 examples. Maybe we can isolate similar genes in people? It IS a combination of nature AND nurture; there are things at play on all sides.

EDIT: ah, saw swim beat me to the punch. Always a step ahead of me, ey buddy?

 

[jasper kent]

I'm 53 yrs old, 6'1" and weigh about 160 lbs. As long as other drugs are not involved, I'm certain I can drink 99% of the general population under the table. There's a very simple explanation: I'm an alcoholic.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

The explanation is even more simple than that. Tolerance (and read the posts above, specifically Swimmingdancer's).

 

[Renz Envy]

The actual Alcohol addicts I know can drink supersaiyan amounts and not even be Kakarot drunk.

 

[MrPorter]

Heavyweight for me is not only how much it takes to get drunk, but how much to be sick. The latter varies a lot more person to person. I know people that regularly 'tactical chunder' spontaneously whereas I never actually feel sick unless my friends are twats and mix my drink with food substances (like they've done before...) however I would say I'm below average for my age group in terms of how much I drink.

Also, most people can't handle spirits. I think basically their stomachs don't like the high alcohol content and so pump it out asap any way possible, but I normally drink it neat - probably better in terms of chunder since there is less liquid volume.

I've heard fatter body mass will 'hold' more alcohol compared to smaller frames and muscle bound fat but healthy bearmode powerlifters who also perform cardio tend to just destroy anything they drink.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I'm 53 yrs old, 6'1" and weigh about 160 lbs. As long as other drugs are not involved, I'm certain I can drink 99% of the general population under the table. There's a very simple explanation: I'm an alcoholic.

The explanation is even more simple than that. Tolerance.

Yes of course, tolerance is a HUGE factor. And once someone has a high tolerance it seems like it can take a long time to go down. For example, I have a friend who is a long-time alcoholic, occasionally he stops drinking for a few months, then when he goes back to drinking he can still drink amounts that would easily kill me (no exaggeration). (And I don't think I could ever get my tolerance up that high because alcohol makes me too sick and I could never drink on a daily basis, so stuff like that plays a role in who is predisposed to alcoholism as well).

I was assuming the OP was asking about factors aside from tolerance

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Tolerance and metabolism, the combination can lead to your body being able to handle some serious amounts of drugs/alcohol. My metabolism is incredibly fast, makes it impossible to gain weight, drugs pass out of my system at twice the rate of some people, etc. Add a tolerence on top of that from heavy usage and you quickly find yourself being able to drink a pint of bourbon in a couple hours or shoot 4 bundles of good heroin a day and not even be that rocked..

 

[chrisalt]

Im an one of those "heavy weights" If i dont drink for a year my tolerance goes from nothing then back to 26oz bottles without being to drunk after about 5 days of drinking.

I dunno im a big guy tho.

 

[whippa craka]

Aside from the physical effects the GABA stimulation has on your body, some are just well mentally prepared for what GABA up-regulation has to offer. Unfortunately it does not come without consequence. For every up the is a down. Either you find yourself addicted to alchohol/benzos/GABA antagonists, develop depression or just have random bits of anger which can only be covered by with alcohol use throughout the week. Don't get too carried away.