Alcohol is a toxin. When you consume it, your body tries to remove it.
The liver works so fast, however. It can metabolize about 0.5 ounces of pure alcohol per hour, though that amount may vary from person to person. If you consume more alcohol than that in a short time, your body removes it in other ways.
“The body gets rid of the rest through a process called oxidation, which breaks the toxins down into smaller parts,” White says.
Alcohol is first broken into acetaldehyde, which itself is broken into acetate. Each is progressively less toxic.
Your body then tries to remove acetate however it can, usually through sweat, breath, and urination. Because acetate has a similar chemical composition to vinegar, those excretions can smell like vinegar.
“Drinking causes the blood vessels near the skin to enlarge, which causes people to feel flushed or hot and as a result triggers the body to sweat,” he says. “The higher the alcohol content of the drink or drinks the person consumed the night before, the more alcohol oxidation a person’s body will go through, which means more stink-causing acid.”
It also can lead to halitosis, or bad breath, says Lawrence Fung, DDS, a board-certified dentist and the owner of Silicon Beach Dental in Los Angeles. Alcohol consumption is a potential cause of dry mouth, which occurs when you are not producing enough saliva. In addition to bad breath, this condition can lead to trouble eating and drinking, mouth and throat pain, and mouth sores.
