About half of fatal highway accidents are alcohol-related. Eating while drinking slows the absorption of alcohol in the body. Eating before and while drinking slows down the passage of alcohol from the stomach to the small intestine. It takes about as many hours as the number of beers drunk for the liver to completely burn up the alcohol ingested. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver at the rate of one drink an hour.
Few women become alcoholics.
Although the estimates of women alcoholics vary from one quarter to one half of all alcoholics, it is clear that the number of female alcoholics is sizable and has been increasing. In the past, female alcoholics and problem drinkers may have been more reluctant to seek treatment than men who experience drinking problems, but fortunately that situation is beginning to change. Alcohol is considered a stimulant. Some people mistakenly think it is a stimulant because initially it reduces inhibitions, encouraging some people to do things they might not do otherwise. To prevent a hangover, one should sip one's drink slowly, eat while drinking, have no more than one drink an hour, and not over-drink one's limit.