Similarly, ethanol can help protect you from the poisonous effects of methanol (wood alcohol). Methanol by itself isn’t actually harmful, but it gets broken down into harmful byproducts that will make you go blind and then kill you.

The enzyme responsible for breaking down methanol is also used to break down ethanol. And enzymes have a limited capacity for work. In other words, they can only break down a certain number of molecules at any given time. And the enzyme is more compatible with ethanol than methanol.

So if you suspect someone drank methanol, (it is a common ingredient in antifreeze), you should have them start taking shots. Pump them full of as much liquor as possible, as quickly as possible. Get them absolutely shitfaced ASAP, and keep them wasted until they get to the hospital. It will prevent the vast majority of the methanol from being broken down, which will prevent the actual poisoning from happening.