How much does someone have to drink in order to get alcohol poisoning?

...Yeah, that's not "fine", that's blacked out and the odds are his liver's functionality dropped to around 15% for a solid two or three weeks afterward.

yeah, well, by fine I just meant he unfortunately didn't die, his brain bounced right back (so no major damage) and he still wants to drink insanely.

I rather hate him...

He didn't black out though..

Well "black out" doesn't mean someone passes out completely. It just means they have no idea of what's going on, or at least won't remember the next morning.

Well that's what I meant, he remembered everything afterward... Chronic binge drinking alcoholic though, so.. Yeah, still doesn't make any sense as to why he is alive.. Genetic fluke, or conditioned to poison, or just a piece of trash, doesn't much change what is...

A hangover is dehydration and withdrawal from lack of alcohol. Small quantities of alcohol are good for you.

The withdrawal is the body recovering from the poisoning and dehydration to some extent. And, though all alcohol is a metabolic poison, it may still have some salubrious effects. Digitalin is a poison, but small doses are good for some.

If you're really going to say that your first drink causes "alcohol poisoning" then let's just go ahead and call vitamins poison as well, and iron, and zinc, and selenium, and pretty much anything else you put in your body.

Your body isn't really "poisoned" by small amounts of alcohol. The only level of poisoning you could even argue for would be not from alcohol itself, but from what it breaks down into by your liver.

In other words, saying that the very first drink results in "alcohol poisoning" is both misleading and silly.

I would be one to call alcohol poison from the first drop, with my experiences. I've not seen iron or zinc lead to addiction in mass levels. While it is true too much of anything can be a good thing, if it harms you in small amounts, this accounts it as a poison. If you can live without it your entire life and still be perfectly fine, I would constitute it as a poison when it does any harm to you.

One drop of beer doesn't cause addiction. Poisons don't have to be addictive either.. Iron and Zinc poison you in small amounts, much like alcohol does. The only difference is that they're only found in incredibly small doses in food.

Most people survive just fine lacking a lot of vitamins and nutrients, especially iron and zinc.

Moonrise seems to be very knowledgable about beer/alcohol in general.... So am I, but he seems to know a bit more than me.... So needless to say, he is correct... Felix and God, you two are away off factually.... You can call a hangover posioning if you wish as vague opinion, but factually, that is not what it is at all... You don't always get a hangover when you drink, I rarely get them, regardless of how much I drink. Having a few drinks from time to time is not bad for you either, so suggesting the first drink is poisoning is silly indeed.... That is going a little over extreme, and anyone who is truly educated on matters such as alcohol like Moonrise and myself will tell you differently. Sure, exsessive amounts are poisonous to your body, but drinking responsibly in moderation, no...

No offense of course..... I am not saying you two are dumb when I say "educated", I just mean we go by factual information, not just opinion by way of personal experiences alone.

Many people have negative experiences with alcohol, but many people do not at the same time... So while personal experience does count for something, factual information about alcohol consumption and behaviors from scientific proof (studies, statistics, biology, etc...) are truth, and cannot be denied.

These same facts also reflect that some people can handle certain amounts of alcohol better than others, and that some people don't really need to drink period whilst others can do it in moderation and maintain good health and are not at risk of alcohol poisoning or erratic behavior. I.E. a violent, reckless drunk VS. a friendly, calm, kick back drunk. Both have the possibility of gaining alcohol poisoning if they drink too much, but as Moonrise said, that all depends on the height, weight, metabolism, tolerance, etc... of a person on an individual basis....

In closing, alcohol poisoning is not factually present unless you drink way too much and become near death or die due to a very high BAC that just makes everything shut down.

Hangovers are multi-causal. Ethyl alcohol has a dehydrating effect, which causes headaches, dry mouth, and lethargy. This can be mitigated by drinking plenty of water between and after the alcoholic consumptions. Alcohol is also a metabolic poison, and its impact on the stomach lining probably accounts for the nausea.

"Another factor contributing to hangover is the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde by the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This metabolite is probably more toxic than alcohol."


"Alcohol interferes with a multitude of chemical and hormonal reactions in the body. Understanding that alcohol in the performance arena is a metabolic poison...."

"Another factor contributing to a HANGOVER are the products from the breakdown of ethanol via liver enzymes. Ethanol is converted to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, and then from acetaldehyde to acetic acid by the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde (ethanal) is between 10 and 30 times more toxic than alcohol itself,[5] as well as being cocarcinogenic (not carcinogenic solely by itself) and mutagenic.[6]" Ergo, any alcohol consumption is self-poisoning."

"These two reactions also require the conversion of NAD to NADH. With an excess of NADH, the lactate dehydrogenase reaction is driven to produce lactate from pyruvate (the end product of glycolysis) in order to regenerate NAD and sustain life. This diverts pyruvate from other pathways such as gluconeogenesis, thereby impairing the ability of the liver to supply glucose to tissues, especially the brain. Because glucose is the primary energy source of the brain, this lack of glucose contributes to hangover symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, mood disturbances, and decreased attention and concentration.

"Alcohol consumption can result in depletion of the liver's supply of glutathione[7] and other reductive detoxification agents,[8] reducing its ability to effectively remove acetaldehyde and other toxins from the bloodstream. Additionally, alcohol induces the CYP2E1 enzyme, which itself can produce additional toxins and free radicals.[9]"

Though medical science has a completely contrary opinion, I totally and absolutely defer to Moonrise. I have to deal with enough endless arguments replete with insults in court.

Point remians, unless you over do it, you will never really be harmed by consuming alcohol if you do it responsibly and in moderation.... And alcohol can be good for you in small doses actually, like Moonrise said.... So all of that is in most cases irrelevant, as most people don't abuse the drug and over drink to consider it poison.....

To much of ANYTHING consumed can be posionous to a degree to the body, case in point...

You are absolutely right. The question, of course, was "How much does someone have to drink in order to get alcohol poisoning?" and the medical science answer is "any amount varying by person" and the AA answer would be that for an alcoholic, even one drop, but you are right. I entirely agree. I concede to all your points.

Felix, to judge: "Your honor, do you think we can finally move on now? I graciously concede the points."

Judge, to Felix: " Do you think that I didn't see you roll your eyes to the jury?!? Just one more time and I'll...!!"

Ok, just going to act in defense real quick... When I said first drop, I was referring to genetic predisposition to being addicted to Alcohol. In this case, all it takes is a single drop. Yes it could be argued that you are already addicted to it at birth, but, if you never touch it, you never find that out, you never "have" to have it.
I never said iron and zinc were poisons, although they might be considered such for one reason or another, however I would like to see a study where a human was completely deprived of either or both of those and see how they develop. I would find it interesting, however, I have seen the effects of absolute and complete deprivation of alcohol from the body, and nothing bad noticeably happened.


We could also take this further and point out other studies (Let us cite Calabrese) have found that low does of many substances commonly realized to be poison can be good for you. Even Dioxin, radiation, and some heavy metals, of all things.
Just because a poison can follow a J curve, in regard to health effects, doesn't make it any less of a poison.

I was never trying to argue though, and I don't think I ever made an attempt to argue. I just want to point out, I have sound reasons for my opinions, and I am not the most idiotic of idiots.

Fair enough fellas.... and I see your point about the first drop argument, because to an alcoholic, the first drop soon turns into many drinks, and they are at a much bigger risk of drinking themselves to death sooner or later....

So, that is a good point, but earlier, you did not specify that is what you meant specifically, so that is why Moonrise and I were debating it with you...

I admit, I wasn't specific, but I didn't expect a debate, to be honest, just to state my opinion. With some of the things that I have experienced, I cannot see alcohol as anything but poison. It is your choice, and right, to partake up until the point where you might die, but that will not change how I see things.


Your mediation is very interesting, I may not always agree with you, but I do appreciate your fairly non-combative technique when compared to some others. You also seem to attempt translations of the concepts people relay, this can be bothersome, but I will be the first to admit this is something that is needed when dealing with others with different ideals. Its like an engineer trying to speak to the shop welder, sometimes you say the same things, but you take it completely different ways, mediation can be useful. Just be careful about how you translate certain things. Good Luck.