Mental and Physical Efficiency after Wine and Ethanol Solutions Ingested on an Empty and on a Full Stomach

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Abstract
Alcohol, as either a 12% wine or a 12% water solution, was given to 30 healthy young men on an empty stomach in a dose of 0.20 g/kg of body weight. On another occasion they were given a dose of 0.40 g/kg with a mixed 1500-calorie standard meal. Each subject was given psychological and physiological tests on an empty stomach with and without alcohol and after a meal with alcohol. Twenty-three variables were gathered from 8 psychological tests to evaluate changes in psychological or psychophysiological traits effected by alcohol ingestion, including skill, motor coordination, space and form perception, and flicker fusion. Blood alcohol and blood sugar concentrations were determined at 40, 70 and 100 minutes after the end of drinking. In another set of experiments, 55 subjects were given a dose of 0.60 g of alcohol/kg as wine or water solution on an empty stomach, and on another occasion, a dose of 1.20 g/kg with a mixed 1500-calorie meal. The second set of experiments duplicated the first except that a few psychological tests and variables were omitted. The mean blood alcohol values after 0.20 g of ethanol/kg as wine or water solution on an empty stomach were below 0.02%-almost identical with those after a double dose on a full stomach. The values after a dose of 0.60 g/kg on an empty stomach in either form were about 0.05%, slightly lower than those from the double dose on a full stomach. All mean values after ethanol solutions were slightly higher than the corresponding values after equal amounts of wine. The difference in values between wine and ethanol solutions tended to disappear as the dose increased to 0.60 and 1.20 g/kg. The slightly higher values obtained after 1.20 g ethanol/kg in either form with a meal indicated the probable limit at which a clear-cut "meal effect" was reached. The blood sugar values after doses of 0.20 and 0.40 g/kg on an empty and full stomach, as wine or ethanol solutions, were consistently below 100 mg/100 ml. At doses of 0.60 g/kg on an empty stomach and 1.20 on a full stomach, in either form, they were slightly but consistently higher on a full stomach (range 101-114 and 103-119 mg/100 ml., respectively). A dose of 0.20 g/kg on an empty stomach as wine or ethanol solution effected no change in 9 and 12 performances, respectively, of the 23 psychological variables. A dose of 0.4 g/kg as wine or ethanol solution with a meal effected no change in 20 and 12, respectively. Wine on an empty stomach "improved" 6 and "impaired" 4 variables. Double amounts of wine on a full stomach "impaired" only 2 and "improved" none. Ethanol solutions on an empty and full stomach, in the same amounts as wine, affected many variables, mainly in the direction of "impairment." Differences between the effects of ethanol solutions on an empty and full stomach were not evident. Doses of 0.60 and 1.20 g/kg on an empty or full stomach in either form effected "impairment" in all variables; the "impairment" on a full stomach, however, was less than twice that with half doses on an empty stomach. Physiological changes (blood pressure, pulse rate, etc.) were less frequent on a full stomach after the 2 smaller doses and more frequent after the two larger doses, probably due to the combined impact of a heavy meal and large amounts of alcohol. It is concluded that identical blood alcohol levels do not preclude significant differences in psychological and physiological reactions and that the ingestion of a substantial meal is an important factor in enhancing the resistance of the central nervous system to untoward effects of alcoholic beverages.

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