by Patrick Sills

Created on: October 11, 2010

It’s been a good 35 years since I took Driver’s Education back in high school, but there is one thing I learned that I can recollect as clearly as if I were taught this yesterday. There is an urban myth out there that refuses to go away. It would be quite interesting to find out who came up with this notion, and when. By now, you may be thinking to yourself, “What urban myth? Just what does this refer to?”

It is as follows: If you’ve had too much alcohol to drink and are thus intoxicated, drinking coffee will speed the process of sobering up. Well, folks, I hate to break this to you, but this is absolutely false. So do you want to know what really happens? Read on.

When a person consumes alcoholic beverages, a couple of things happen almost immediately. At first, blood pressure will drop, but at the same time, the heart rate increases. Once enough alcohol has entered an individual’s bloodstream, the blood pressure takes a 180 degree turn and not only rises back up to where it was before the drinking started, but continues to climb until the person is hypertensive. This in turn increases one’s perceived level of energy and explains why a drunk person can suddenly become more talkative; or in some disturbing cases, hostile and belligerent. In simple terms, alcohol acts as a stimulant, but only at first. Because the heart is working harder, this first sends a signal to the brain that triggers a sense of euphoria, but unlike someone involved in a healthy cardiovascular activity such as playing tennis or swimming laps around a pool, a person drinking significant amounts of alcohol will eventually burn out and become fatigued. He or she may become sleepy or if enough booze is ingested; even pass out!

The only thing drinking coffee will do while in this state is keep one awake and drunk at the same time. No two people are constructed exactly alike when it comes to holding their liquor. Currently, in most areas of the US, a person is considered to be legally intoxicated if a breathalyzer shows a .08 or higher. This indicates that 8% of the bloodstream contains alcohol. A person’s body weight and how much food has been consumed prior to drinking are significant factors that determine how quickly an intoxicated state will manifest itself. But regardless of this, the alcohol in one’s system will not dissipate simply from drinking coffee. It will only do so with the passage of time, and that’s once the person has stopped drinking!

Alcohol also dehydrates the body, and this is why so many people suffer hangovers the next morning. In all likelihood, this could explain partially why the coffee myth got started. The most common characteristic of a hangover is a severe headache, and many people claim coffee relieves this pain. Nevertheless, this has nothing to do with becoming sober. It simply relieves the headache. To help avoid a hangover before it happens, an individual should drink lots of plain water, because the caffeine in coffee can dehydrate the body even further.

Coffee is arguably the best legal speed on the planet, but the key point to remember is that being alert and being sober are NOT synonymous. A person who has consumed intoxicating amounts of alcohol will not return to a sober state until it is expelled through urination, perspiration, and the process of metabolism. Depending on how much the person has had to drink, this can take several hours.

Learn more about this author, Patrick Sills.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.