What Helps You Sober Up?

Last updated: October 27, 2025Alcohol0

The First Thing to Remember about Alcohol for Your DMV Test

There are many myths about how to sober up fast. Some can appear on your DMV test to challenge how well you read your driver’s manual.

The simple fact to remember for your DMV test is that only time will help you sober up.

In other words, before you get behind the wheel, you must stop drinking and wait for the alcohol to leave your system, a process that could take several hours.

How Alcohol Leaves Your Body

About 90% of the alcohol in your body is metabolized in the liver, and the liver can only process a certain amount of alcohol per hour, regardless of how much you have consumed. Sweat, breath, and urine eliminate ten percent of the alcohol.

The rate at which the liver breaks down alcohol varies among individuals. In general, the amount of alcohol in your blood peaks within 30 to 45 minutes after one standard drink. Alcohol is, however, metabolized more slowly than it is absorbed. Since the metabolism of alcohol is slow, you need to control consumption to prevent accumulation in the body and intoxication.

Drinking more than one drink an hour gives your liver more than it can handle, and it may take many hours before all alcohol is gone from your system. If you drink very slowly, the liver has a chance to catch up, and you will sober up more quickly.

What Affects Your BAC?

Time and the amount of alcohol you consume are the primary factors that determine your blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

Things like eating food, drinking coffee, getting fresh air, or taking a cold shower have no real effect on your BAC.

Eating: While eating can slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, all alcohol will eventually end up in your blood and affect your BAC.

Coffee and Energy Drinks: Contrary to common beliefs, caffeine will not help you sober up more quickly, but it may counteract some of the sedative effects of alcohol, and you may feel more alert. Coffee does not improve judgment, coordination, reaction time, or other essential abilities for safe driving.

Fresh air and cold showers: While fresh air and cold showers will help you stay awake and maybe feel more alert, they do not reduce the alcohol concentration in your blood.

Drinking water: It helps you offset some of the dehydrating effects of alcohol. You feel better if you drink water with every drink of alcohol you have. But it will not help you sober up faster. Only time does.

Other Important Factors That Determine Your BAC

Besides time and the amount of alcohol you drink, “>gender and weight play a significant role in determining your BAC.

If you weigh less, the alcohol affects you more quickly because you have less tissue to absorb alcohol.

A woman’s body typically has more fat and less water than a man’s. If a man and woman are the same size and drink the same amount, the woman will get drunk more quickly and feel the effects for longer.