Why is alcohol is absorbed by the body much faster than food?
VERIFIED
Matthew Cotton
Graduate entry medical student with a 1st class Masters and BSc
Alcohol is a much smaller molecule than most foods and as a result does not require breakdown via enzymes to be absorbed in the gut. As a result it is absorbed quicker.
VERIFIED
Primisha Patel
If you need a tutor who can help achieve that higher grade then I am it!
Due to liquidy nature of alcohol, it enters the stomach immediately after entering the buccal cavity. Once it reaches stomach, 20 % of alcohol is instantly absorbed in stomach-- specially when there is no food present in the stomach. After that, it would immediately move into small intestine where it would find an immense surface area for it's absorption. From small intestine 80 % of alcohol is rapidly absorbed into blood.
Answers from these tutors
Asked in Biology 🌱
ASKED BY XXALDIDXX
BIOLOGY 🌱What is photosynthesis?
Photosynthesis is a chemical reaction that happens in the leaves of a plant to food for it to survive. Photosynthesis takes place in the part of the...
ASKED BY ELLIE
BIOLOGY 🌱Do the cells in an asexual reproduction divide by mitosis or meiosi?
They would divide by mitosis. Examples include budding, hydras, vegetative propagation and strawberries. ...
ASKED BY JESS
BIOLOGY 🌱How do you work out the percentage of someone with blue eyes from a genetic diagram? (BB, BB, BB in a table?
If it’s just one characteristic the table is referred to as a monohybrid cross, so there should be four possible outcomes. For example if the parent...
ASKED BY ROSS
BIOLOGY 🌱Why is it necessary men having more red blood cells per cubic millimeter of blood than women?
Hi, women have reproductive cyclefor every 30days so they loose RBC.Thus less RBC are found in female mammals...
ASKED BY JAKE
BIOLOGY 🌱What is a eukaryote ?
A eukaryote is a cell (can also be a single cell organism) that has a membrane bound nucleus, organelles (little organs) and linear chromosomes (com...
ASKED BY FATMA
BIOLOGY 🌱Where and how does pH affect carbohydrases?
Carbohydrases are enzymes that break down carbohydrates into smaller sugar molecules. They are usually made in the the pancreas and released into th...
ASKED BY FATMA
BIOLOGY 🌱What happens to the fatty acids and glycerol once absorbed into the epithelium?
These two products of fat digestion, once absorbed by the epithelial cells of the small intestine, are re-formed and into triglycerides whilst insid...
ASKED BY PHOEBE-LILY
BIOLOGY 🌱Why is eating a healthy, balanced diet so important to the body?
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. This means eating a wide variety o...
ASKED BY SOPHIE
BIOLOGY 🌱What is Genetic Engineering?
Genetic engineering refers to direct manipulation process of the DNA to alter the characteristics of an organism (this can be of an animal, plant or...
ASKED BY YASHVI
BIOLOGY 🌱Why are stem cells (from bone marrow) able to repair damaged heart tissue?
Stem cells are unspecialised cells that can differentiate and be used to repair various tissues, including heart one. When used in medical intervent...
Find me a tutor
We take your privacy seriously. View our policy.