What Happens to Your Body When You Drink a Bottle of Wine

It's easy to polish one off by yourself over the course of an evening unless you stay mindful of the effects.

We're sure you can recite 30 reasons to polish off that bottle of cabernet—you got a promotion… it's Friday… antioxidants and other benefits of wine! All of these points can be debated, but have you considered the reasons why you shouldn't drink an entire bottle of wine by yourself (even if with friends)? What's more, why is it so much healthier to share a grape?

We'll go over what science says about what happens to your body if you selfishly drink a bottle of wine. But first, let's get on the same page about bottle size.

It's a standard bottle, not a litre or a magnum that we're talking about. A typical bottle of wine contains 750 milliliters (ml) or 25 fluid ounces of wine. A bottle of wine makes around five servings because a "normal pour" is five fluid ounces. Put your glasses on if your bottle only yields three glasses of wine. Three huge pours equal five standard pours.

According to research, the effects of consuming five standard pours of wine (a whole bottle) on the body are as follows. Continue reading.

1. It'll get a lot of liquid calories and a shot of sugar.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a five-ounce glass of chardonnay contains roughly 1.4 grams of sugar, so a full bottle adds 7 grams to your daily intake. A whole bottle of vino contains 615 calories or around 123 calories per glass. But keep in mind that you're probably munching on cheese, crackers, and prosciutto in between sips. It might not seem like a lot, but consider all the other sugar-containing foods and beverages you consume during the day. The average adult in the United States consumes 77 grams of sugar.

2. Your blood sugar level may drop.

While you don't need the added sugar from the wine, the good news is that it won't boost your blood sugar. When your liver is busy metabolizing the alcohol you consume, it generates less glucose, resulting in a drop in blood sugar. Alcohol, on the other hand, can drop blood sugar levels, leading to weakness, dizziness, and heart palpitations. That's why people with diabetes should check their blood sugar levels after drinking alcohol.

3. You'll become legally intoxicated.

Your size, gender, age, drinking history, not if you've eaten, how many you've had, and the type of alcohol you're drinking, among other things, all influence how quickly and for how long you get drunk. Most wines have 12 per cent alcohol by volume, though this is not always the case (ABV). (A standard beer's ABV is 5%.) Some cabernets can be as high as 14% ABV, while zinfandels from California and Australian shiraz wines can be as high as 18% ABV. Dessert wines, such as Port, can have a high alcohol content of 20% or more. But let's stick with a typical 12% ABV bottle. You're probably drunk if you've consumed an entire bottle or five 5-ounce servings. When you finish your fourth glass, you've reached the 0.08 per cent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit, regardless of whether you're a male or a woman, weighing 100 pounds or 240 pounds. Intoxication is affected by time, of course. At a 0.015g/100mL/hour rate, alcohol is metabolized. In general, one normal drink of alcohol leaves the body per hour. According to this chart from Addiction Center, if you finish a bottle of wine at 10 p.m., the alcohol will take at least until 3 a.m. to exit your system.

4. You'll lose coordination reaction time and maybe miss that car horn.

According to American Addiction Centers, drinking a bottle of wine will throw you off balance even when standing still, disrupt your coordination, and delay your reaction time, making avoiding obstacles much more difficult. Even your hearing will decrease, making it possible that you will miss the horn of the oncoming car. 

5. Your blood pressure and heart rate will jump.

Binge drinking increases both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and yes, emptying a bottle of wine counts as binge drinking. Both blood pressure readings often fall below the basic level as blood alcohol levels drop overnight following an evening of drinking. According to the study published in Hypertension, this rapid fluctuation in blood pressure readings can raise the risk of stroke, reported in higher numbers among young adults on weekends and holidays. According to the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension, it also raises your pulse by roughly 15 beats per minute faster than when you're sober.

6. Your body will put a halt to fat loss.

Your body will always burn alcohol first if you give it a fuel choice. That means a bottle of wine will flood your system with enough alcohol to block fat-burning for a long time effectively. A group of males was given two alcoholic beverages with 24 grams of alcohol in a research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers examined their blood several hours later and discovered that their whole-body lipid oxidation (the amount of fat burned by the body) had decreased by 73%. You can imagine how focused your body will be on burning fat after consuming 5 cups of wine, as twenty-four grams of alcohol is only shy of the 28 grams you'd get from two glasses of wine. 

7. You'll be tempted to get takeout.

Even if you have cheese and grapes with that bottle, you'll almost certainly want more food when you're done. Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine used MRI technology to examine drinkers' brains and discovered that alcohol promotes binge eating. It increases activity in the hypothalamus and other brain regions that control eating habits. Furthermore, it has been proven that drinking increases your sensitivity to food odours. Pounding a bottle of wine can give you the munchies. Consider the findings of a poll of 2,000 members of the UK-based weight-loss group Slimming World, which found that consuming three large glasses of wine can lead to an additional 6,300 calories consumed in the next 24 hours.

8. You may get a stuffy nose.

Sulfites and histamines in wine, especially red wine, are popular allergy triggers that cause congestion, flushing, itching, and other symptoms. It's not difficult at all. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, even a glass of wine can cause a severe allergic reaction. So, if you're sensitive, consider the effects of a full bottle. Hives, red, itchy eyes, and even trouble breathing are possible symptoms.

9. you may have a stormy night's sleep.

Sure, a couple of glasses of wine will put you to sleep, but we're pretty sure you won't get a good night's sleep after drinking the bottle. More than 4,000 adults were evaluated by Finnish researchers, who discovered that heavy drinkers had a 39.2 per cent lower sleep quality. The sedative impact of alcohol is short-lived. Your body experiences arousal, or a wake-up call, when the alcohol is metabolized over time. If you already have trouble sleeping, maybe put down the bottle of wine.

10. Your bowels may let loose.

We probably don't need to explain what alcohol does to your digestive system. However, if you're curious, you may learn how "colonic propulsive motility" increases after an acute influx of something like a glass of red wine.

11. Your brain will get too much GABA.

In the brain, GABA is a neurotransmitter. Alcohol causes neurons to fire more slowly because it boosts GABA activity. It also makes it difficult for the brain to process information. Slurred speech is one way a wine drinker who has had three too many shows signs of disruption. According to the American Addiction Centers, people who drink excessively are in danger of getting dysarthria, a medical term for difficulty speaking words. That brain damage can become permanent over time.

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