Expert: Paul Wagner - 4/22/2009

Question
A recent discussion about Bali with some friends brought up the "apparent" lessened effect of alcohol when in Bali, there was suggestion that the humidity "makes it sweat out" or that the heat means it doesnt affect you as much. As neither of these seemed to be a reasonable response my husband and I have been wondering why exactly does it seem that you can drink so much more with such a lessened effected when in places of high humidity such as Bali. (We come from Australia, where a higher than average consumption of alcohol is the norm)

Answer
HI Kelly

I don't believe there is anything in the scientific literature about the effects of humidity on the body's ability to metabolize alcohol, but there are some other factors that may also be at play:

1.  Any time you consume food with alcohol, it moderates the effect of the alcohol.  Thus if your consumption patterns in Bali involved more food either before or during your drinking, that would moderate the effects of the alcohol.

2.  Drinking non-alcoholic beverages also moderates the body's ability to metabolize the alcohol.  If you were drinking mixed drinks with fruit juice and other non-alcoholic elements, these might be less potent than what you were drinking in Oz. And if you had a fruit juice or water before the alcohol, that would also help.

3.  If you were drinking mixed drinks and not preparing them yourselves, it is possible that they simply had less alcohol in them than your normal drinks in Oz.  It is even possible that the alcohol levels of the spirits in Bali were somewhat lower than you are used to drinking in Oz.

4.  Many people find that their stress level is lower on vacation--let's hope so!--and that also influences the situation.  People under stress tend to drink more quickly, which will increase the impact.  And drinking more will also do that.  Just stress alone tends to reduce the body's resistance, so that may also be a partial explanation.

5.  Finally, altitude also affects the outcome--although I suspect that you are not from a high-altitude location in Oz, the impact of alcohol at sea level is less than it would be at elevation.  But I think you would have to get up to over 1500 meters for this to really be noticeable.  

Hope that helps.  My guess is that it was a combination of all of these factors.  

And I hope that you really enjoyed Bali!

Paul Wagner