- A borg is a gallon-sized drink that can hold up to 17 shots of alcohol.
- The drink has gone viral on TikTok, with videos tagged #borg viewed more than 84 million times.
- Alcohol poisoning can affect anyone who drinks and can be fatal.
people who drink “borgs”, gallon bottles that sometimes contain 17 shots of alcohol, hoping to avoid the risk of hangovers from alcohol poisoning, a condition that kills six people every day in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Borgs, or “quenchers of quenched anger”, they’re filled with alcohol, water, and flavored with electrolyte-containing drink enhancers, like Crystal Light, in the hopes that hydration will stave off a hangover.
Other purported benefits that have made it popular with college students include that a borg is individual to each person because it has a lid on it, which reduces the risk of being drugged, the United Kingdom-based substance use prevention specialist said on TikTok. New York, Erin Monroe.
The drink has gone viral on TikTok, with videos of #borg viewed more than 84 million times.
The alcohol content in borgs varies. viral one Tik Tok with 2.5 million views, a borg appeared containing half a bottle of vodka, equivalent to about eight drinks. Some contain a fifth of alcohol, which is equivalent to almost 17 drinks.
“Consuming that much alcohol would be fatal for the vast majority of people,” said Dr. George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at the National Institutes of Health, who said he had seen recipes with 43 servings. of alcohol, he said CBS News.
The University of Massachusetts issued a warning statement about the borgs on March 4 after they called 28 ambulances to college parties over the weekend.
Symptoms of alcohol poisoning include vomiting, blue-tinged skin, and loss of consciousness.
Drinking a fifth-sized bottle of high-percentage alcohol can lead to alcohol poisoning, even when consumed over a period of several hours. The National Capital Poison Center he said in a warning about borgs on his website.
Alcohol intoxication is when the concentration of alcohol in the blood reaches a dangerous level that prevents the body from working properly.
Mindful Drinking — a charity that provides information on alcohol use — said there is no set amount of alcohol that causes alcohol poisoning. It depends on factors such as the person’s size, gender, weight, how fast they have been drinking, how much they have eaten, their general health, and whether they have taken any medications or drugs.
He said it takes an average adult about two hours process one serving of standard US drink. Drinking a lot in a short time increases the concentration of alcohol in the blood.
Symptoms of alcohol poisoning may include confusion, severe slurred speech, vomiting, blue-tinged skin, being conscious but unresponsive, loss of consciousness, and loss of bladder or bowel control.
Drink Aware said that alcohol poisoning can be fatal for a number of reasons. It can lower a person’s body temperature, risking hypothermia, and it can cause vomiting, which can put the person at risk of suffocation if they pass out.
Alcohol poisoning can also lead to a heart attack, seizure, or can prevent a person from breathing.
Don’t give someone coffee if they’ve had too much to drink
If someone shows signs of alcohol poisoning, Drink Aware said to give them water, keep them awake, stay with them and monitor their symptoms, keep them warm, put them in the recovery position if they’ve passed out and call an ambulance. .
The charity said the following should never be done to someone with alcohol poisoning: make them vomit because they could choke on their vomit, give them coffee because it dehydrates them, leave them alone to sleep, put them in a cold shower or give them more alcohol.
To stay safe while drinking, Drink Aware recommends avoiding excessive drinking, eating before you drink, drinking water between alcoholic drinks, and staying with friends.
