system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Does food actually “soak up” alcohol in the stomach?
gpt
Sort of. It really just slows down its absorption.

Alcohol can diffuse across all tissues and barriers throughout the body, so ingested alcohol ultimately ends up spread all over your systems. However, the faster it gets from your stomach to your intestines, the faster it is absorbed to your bloodstream and spread everywhere, so you get drunk faster (as your alcohol concentration in your nervous system peaks more acutely).

Having food in your stomach delays gastric emptying - the dumping of stomach contents into your small intestine. This, in turn, delays alcohol absorption, so your blood alcohol level (representative of your alcohol level throughout your body) rises more slowly, not getting you as drunk as quickly and giving more time for your liver to process it.

Actually, even with no food present, this also happens when mixing alcohol with sugary mixers which delays gastric emptying (as opposed to sugar-free mixers). So, although food does actually technically "soak up" alcohol in the stomach, what actually slows down getting drunk is just slowing down how fast the alcohol-infused contents go through your digestive system.