When a person drinks hard alcohol (such as whiskey or vodka), the ionic concentrations can increase in the blood stream. The suppression of ADH causes more liquid to leave the body as water, and ionic concentrations left in the blood can rapidly increase as more ions (mostly sodium) are ingested with the alcohol. Alcohol can also impact the muscle cells of the body, causing them to release ions (i.e. phosphate). The effects of more ions in the blood stream impacts the water held in the cells of the body through osmosis. Osmosis pulls the water that resides in the cells into the blood stream to counteract the ionic imbalance. This drying effect can negatively impact the normal function of cells and organs.