If you’re drunk, the age old myth says to eat some bread and drink some water.
For Ashley Pennington, the most surprising thing about talking to campus groups: They believe it.
“Your body is going to metabolize one standard drink in approximately one hour,” the University of Oregon junior and peer health educator said. “By the time food has been consumed and ingested, it’s highly likely that the alcohol has already entered your bloodstream.”
The UO’s AlcoholEdu program and national college data show that 36 percent of students at the UO who drink reported blacking out. Further, 33 percent of those who drink have missed class, performed poorly on an assignment or got behind in school due to drinking. If you blackout, you might not remember the night before — but you could also damage your grade point average.
“Students just need to keep in mind why they are here what they are aiming for and to have their eye on the prize. It is about being successful in school and alcohol can often be a detrimental part on the success of students,” said Jennifer Summers, director of substance abuse prevention.
Alcohol affects different bodies in different ways — based on weight, age, gender, how much or for how long the alcohol has been consumed and what you have eaten and drank prior to consuming alcohol. Regardless it takes about one drink per hour to leave the body.
Most students at the UO are between the ages of 18 to 25. This is prime developmental time for the brain and drinking alcohol could very well delay this process.
A shot, some wine or a beer can also double as a depressant. Sounds simple, you drink too much and then wake up in the morning a little fuzzy. What is really going on is the high levels of alcohol are preventing your nervous system from working properly. Meaning that the more you drink the less you will be able to pay attention in class and understand and remember new and tough concepts.
“We are all at this age now where we are solely responsible for the choices that we make, and drinking behaviors should require the same amount of thought as writing an essay,” Pennington said.
Despite more commonly known negative effects such as hepatitis or alcohol poisoning, drinking large amounts of alcohol can also affect the body’s thiamine or Vitamin B1. Vitamin B1 is needed for basic learning and memory access and alcohol can make those simple tasks more difficult.
Students pay a lot of money to sit in class for up to five days a week, learning and memorizing what can be extremely complex and difficult concepts. Then, drinking during the remaining two or more days puts the brain through even more stress putting you in a position to wash all your tuition money down the drain.
“It’s a matter of having fun but being safe and being smart and being responsible,” Summers said.