Alcohol

Knowing what you’re drinking, how much you’re drinking, and how it’s impacting your body is part of making informed choices around alcohol. 

40% Mocs didn’t drink in the last three months (NCHA, Spring 2026). But, if you or your friends do imbibe, here are three recommendations for reducing the risk of the night turning sour: 

1.  Eating a protein-packed meal before going out helps to slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, giving your body time to process it more gradually. 
2. Alternating water with alcoholic drinks helps slow the overall pace of drinking, giving you time to notice you’re buzzed before you get drunker than you mean to.
3. Knowing the signs of overdose: PUBS

Blood Alcohol Content 

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) refers to the percentage of alcohol in a person’s blood stream. A BAC of .10% means that an individual’s blood supply contains one part alcohol for every 1,000 parts blood. 
BAC is influenced by a variety of factors, including sex assigned at birth, body size, interactions with other substances ingested (both medications and illicit substances), and whether you’ve eaten lately.  
The Virtual Bar is an interactive way to estimate your BAC, taking many of these factors into consideration.  

Sobering Up 
After alcohol is ingested, it gets absorbed into the blood stream, circulates throughout the body, and is eventually broken down by liver enzymes.  
Some people swear that drinking black coffee, eating bread, or exercising is the key to sobering up in time to drive home. The truth is, the only thing that works to lower BAC is time. 
 

Standard Drink Sizes

Understanding standard drink sizes is key to anticipating how what you drink will impact you.  
In the US, a “standard drink” is defined as a beverage containing 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. 

Alcohol by Volume 
Alcoholic beverages contain varying amounts of alcohol. This concentration is referred to as alcohol by volume, or ABV. Basically, this means the drink you’re served could be more or less than one standard drink. For example: 
•    12 oz can of regular beer (5% ABV) = 1 standard drink 
•    12 oz can of light beer (4.2% ABV) = 0.8 standard drinks 
•    12 oz can of craft beer (10% ABV) = 2 standard drinks

 And what if your beer is served in a 16-oz pint glass? Calculating all those percentages might not be the best move once the night is underway, but you may want to consider understanding how many “standard drinks” are in your favorite beverage, using an online resource like this one from the NIAAA. 
 

Tennessee Social Host Law

It is against the law for any individual to knowingly allow an underage adult (a person who is at least 18, but under 21 years old) to consume alcohol on property they own, occupy, or have a legal right to use. It is also illegal for a person to give alcohol to, or buy alcohol for, any minor (a person under 18) for any purpose. Source: TN Code § 57-4-203 (2024), TN Code § 39-15-404 (2024) 
 

Time to Take a Break? 
People may choose to take a break from drinking for a wide variety of reasons. If you’d like to see how it feels to change your drinking patterns for 31-days (either by cutting it out, or by cutting back), download our Dry-ish January Guide —a year-round resource for exploring your relationship with alcohol. 

Want more info? 
Use our free, confidential eCheckup resource to get personalized feedback on how your drinking compares to other Mocs.