Why are women more affected by alcohol ?

Women are more sensitive to alcohol than men. It has a faster and more lasting effect on them. How can we explain such a difference?

The female body more sensitive to alcohol

This particular sensitivity to alcohol in women can be explained in several ways. First, their bodies have more fat and less water. However, alcohol is absorbed less by fatty tissue than by water. As a result, more alcohol passes into the blood.

In addition, the liver of women is smaller. So the process of eliminating alcohol, which is essentially the work of this organ, is more limited. It is especially so since women produce less of a specific enzyme, which contributes to the breakdown of alcohol.

It also seems that the menstrual cycle is not without influence, especially in some of its phases, on the presence of alcohol in the blood. Finally, women are, as a general rule, smaller and lighter than men. However, the heavier a person, the more water their body contains, in which alcohol is absorbed.

Of course, the effects of alcohol are not felt the same way in all women. To measure its impact, other parameters, such as weight, consumption habits or even medication intake must be taken into account.

Alcohol more harmful to women

It is because women's constitutions make them more exposed to the effects of alcohol that they often produce more serious consequences.

This is how the lower volume of their liver explains why with excessive alcohol consumption, health problems, in relation with alcohol, manifest in them earlier. The risk of developing breast cancer, for example, seems to be greater in a woman who drinks alcohol, even without excess.

Similarly, brain damage due to alcohol appears more quickly in women. Medical imaging tests have shown this. This is also the case with some tests, which seem to indicate that alcohol reduces cognitive abilities more quickly in women than in men.