Factors beyond the beverage itself also influence alcohol absorption. Individual characteristics such as sex, reproductive status in women, medications, and whether alcohol is consumed with or without food all contribute to individual variability in alcohol absorption (see details in section 5). Food in the stomach slows gastric emptying, which delays alcohol absorption (69, 72). As a result, alcohol is absorbed more quickly in the fasted state than in the fed state, supporting the common advice to avoid drinking on an empty stomach (70, 71, 73, 74). Solid foods slow gastric emptying more than liquids, delaying alcohol absorption (74). Overall, the stomach empties in proportion to a meal’s caloric load rather than its macronutrient composition (75–77). Even small calorie differences matter, for example, peak breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) is about 20% lower when the drink is sweetened with sugar than when the same drink is prepared with non-caloric sweeteners (78, 79). This reduction occurs partly because of a faster gastric emptying when ingesting drinks sweetened with non-caloric than caloric sweeteners (78).
