Itâs the weekend, and you want to go out with your friends. You donât want a hangover, but you also donât want to be the one who orders soft drinks all night. You want a good time, without the down-time tomorrow.
Well, if you want to drink alcohol responsibly, hereâs the scientific way for you to drink âjust enoughâ, and really have the best night out!
The average night out
Most of us have had one of these: youâre like a puppy let out of its cage. In your enthusiasm, you order your first, second and third rounds, all together. You celebrate victories, drown out your sorrows, and basically find excuses to get drunk. The rest of the night is a write-off, and no one can tell you exactly where you left your new jacket, who dropped you off or if you finally got that cute girlâs number. âDid I take an Uber?â; âDid Jon drop me off?â âMy HEAD!â
The best night out
You get to the bar, and order the exact amount of drinks to hit âthat sweet spotâ. Suddenly, you feel your body relax â your muscles melt away like jello, as music pulsates through your veins. Youâre grooving. Your jokes are hilarious (objectively); and your new-found charisma even gets the waitress to flirt with you. Your inhibitions drop just enough for you to let your freak flag fly, but not so much to make you obnoxious. You have become the most suave, enjoyable version of yourself, and the people around you can testify to that. In fact, you can testify to that, because you will remember every glorious moment tomorrow, when you wake up: hangover-free.
Whatâs happening here? This is known as the Optimal Buzz.
What is the Optimal Buzz?
The Optimal Buzz is the ideal blood alcohol level (BAC), and itâs in the range of 0,4 to 0,6. Itâs just the right amount of inebriation to adjust your body chemistry into the social zone, before you stumble over into the âget out of my face, creep!â zone. It gives you those feelings of sheer bliss, releases your inner social butterfly and reveals that fun child your friends have come to love. If you can keep your blood-alcohol level at this level, you can enjoy the buzz all night long!
How to not overdo it
However, once your BAC goes over 0,6, you lose the Buzz, and there is no coming back. Itâs that moment in the night, when you suddenly start feeling a little sad, down, slow. Things get a bit fuzzy and dull. You notice a drop in your energy. This is also when most people think they just need another round. Sorry, friend â youâve overshot the buzz, and thereâs only one way now: DOWNHILL, and that can be dangerous.
Why canât I get the buzz back?
There is a myth that âthe more you drink, the better you feelâ. The truth, though, is that your body processes alcohol in a biphasic way. This means that when you start drinking, the feeling of euphoria increases, but only up to a point (about 0,6 BAC). After this, the more you drink, the worse you feel.
How can I keep riding the wave?
The strategy to the Optimal Buzz is to âcount drinksâ â and know what counts as a drink. By using this online BAC calculator, you can figure out exactly how many drinks you can have during the time you are drinking according to your gender and weight. Adjust the types of drinks and quantities until you have the ideal strategy to ride the Optimal Buzz like a pro, and make sure you donât go over your limits.
A note to regular drinkers
If youâre used to write-off weekends, youâve probably developed a tolerance to alcohol. This means you wonât have as much of a buzz as your Sober Sally friend. Also, if you overshoot 0,6 you will feel much worse than someone who doesnât normally drink. To get your tolerance down, make sure to keep your BAC below 0,6 for 2 months. If your tolerance is high because of genetic predisposition, thereâs unfortunately no way around it. Weâd advise against you drinking at all, since a naturally high tolerance puts you at risk of developing alcoholism.
Last word of caution: The Optimal Buzz does not make it safe to drive, so catch a lift or a taxi, have fun, get your friends to join you and make tonight the optimal night out!