How does your liver process alcohol after drinking?

When you drink alcohol, it's absorbed through your stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream and carried to the liver. The liver uses an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase to convert ethanol into acetaldehyde, a toxic compound. A second enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, then breaks acetaldehyde down into acetate, which is further metabolized into carbon dioxide and water and eliminated from the body. The liver can only process roughly one standard drink per hour. When you drink faster than this, excess alcohol accumulates in the bloodstream, affecting the brain and other organs. Chronic heavy drinking overwhelms this system, causing acetaldehyde buildup and oxidative stress that damages liver cells, potentially leading to fatty liver, hepatitis, or cirrhosis over time.