Is There a Way to Sober Up Faster?

You may be aware of certain hacks to sober up, but researchers have found a way to actually get booze out of our systems faster. And this discovery could help first responders when facing alcohol overdoses.

Hosted by: Hank Green

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SOURCES
Alcohol metabolism fact sheet

New CO2 mask tech

Dialysis for alcohol

Partial pressure of oxygen

Image Sources:

[OneTwoFive]

I looked this up cos I drank too much with my friends and I’m laying in my bed struggling to write this comment. 😂

[Rubrickety]

It would help a lot if first responders would stop running in slow motion.

[bobhope]

I heard you loud and clear, hold your breath and you'll get drunker faster!

[samehedi]

LOL, that may explain why i'm sober when walking an hour to get home but wasted when being driven

[KrzysztofBob]

So if breathing quickly helps with getting rid of the ethanol, but makes us simply pass out, a jog should help too as it makes us breathe quickly without the inconvenience of passing out.

[scottswan]

I woke up one morning to find I had to go get a random breathalyzer, with only a 2 hour window to do so. I checked myself and was still at .06. Panic ensued. I did jumping jacks like crazy, ate a sandwich, took the dog for a long walk... the BAC would go down but as soon as I stops exercising it would start climbing back up again. I made it to the testing place right before they closed and amazingly tested .000. Way too close though!

[milkmakesnoise]

I’m regretting that “cmon just one more” drink now

[mattiasmartens]

This is really interesting. I'm curious how on earth you'd get someone who's severely intoxicated to hyperventilate into a mask, let alone do that without vomiting.

[maverick]

Exercise seems to do the trick for me. After an hour of running you will feel almost totally sober if you are like me

[dankish]

One way they never recommended is to purge it, which if you don’t know is to throw it up, when the alcohol is out of the stomach, then once your body processes all the alcohol it won’t have anymore to have to process then you will start to sober up, it’s not the fastest way to get it out of your system but it works and usually ends up in no hangover

[rickhernandez]

This seems like the corollary finding is that you can, in fact, get drunk just by hanging with drinkers and breathing their fumes.

[ozzzzzzz]

i think i need to stop drinking forever

[NeiroAtOpelCC]

I believe Scishow made a video a few years back contradicting this claim of 'no means to sober up faster'. Or at least in part. They reported on a study that had found that drinking sprite (among other tested drinks) helped break down the compound that causes headaches while drinking black tea extends the time it takes to do the same. So while it may not help with feeling drunk, it does speed up recovery time - which at least for me is part of sobering up.

[gamesturbator]

Hank is an Adorable, Drunk Princess, so listen to him!

[hoopsonwheels]

This feels too relevant to my life right now 😂 where were you last night

[elraviv]

so if you are not too drunk to run, just run, you'll breath faster no need for some CO2 machine.

[Painted_Owl]

Oh! That’s so cool!
Anecdotally, I’ve discovered the breathing concept on my own from my fair shares of being shitfaced (that may or may not have been in my teens). Wasn’t sure if it actually worked, but being hung over the toilet after singing “hello Rhalf”, it definitely helped relieve stress from the spinning sensation momentarily (and honestly let me think, if just for a few seconds).
I always thought that it was because the extra O2 allowed more metabolization. Wasn’t necessarily correct, but glad to know I wasn’t imagining the help

[stuartblevins]

I wonder if this has anything to do with heightened tobacco cravings on alcohol. Carbon dioxide concentration in cigarette smoke is 200× higher than in the atmosphere, and with this new information, it seems like that heightened desire to reach for a stoge when you're drunk could be our brain's way of trying to get us to clear out the ethanol more quickly.

[viakykatjaimo]

I’m so drunk like a fish I need to get back to feeling like human

[GapWim]

Our home made aclohol test for my late grandfather was to take a drop of his blood and check if it ignites near a flame.
Yes, he was a heavy drinker, there’s a reason why he’s my _late_ grandfather.



Poe warning: no, we did’t actually do that. It was a running joke in the family.