Alcohol what it does when consumed-By Dr Harold Gunatillake

Website: www.Doctorharold.com

Transcript:

Alcohol is one of the most popular recreational drugs in the world.

Like any other drug, over-usage, and abuse, can create side effects. It is a beneficial drug that has its beneficial health effects when taken in moderation as stipulated.

An alcoholic drink is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar, that harms on excess consumption. The consumption of alcohol plays an important social role in many cultures.

Let us delve deeper into alcohol nutrition and discuss what happens to that glass of alcohol you enjoy, in your constitution.

It is a fact there is no social event without alcohol flowing. It relaxes the participants and brings mates together for a relaxed enjoyable evening with conversations, at a party or celebration.

Two small alcoholic drinks per day for a man and one drink per day for a woman can cause no harm to your constitution, provided you are healthy having well-functioning liver and kidneys. When taken more than that brings in negative consequences that brings in when taken in excess creates problems to self and family.

Alcohol is not an essential food like the carbs, protein fat, vitamin, minerals, and water you consume daily. Alcoholic drink primarily consists of water, alcohol, and sugar. The calories come from alcohol and sugar are referred to as, ’empty calories’ because of the lack of any nutrients.

Digesting, absorption, transportation and storing the foods that you consume also burns calories. About 10 percent of the calories from the carbohydrates and protein you eat are used during the digestion and absorption of the food and nutrients.

With alcohol consumption no calories are burnt, and they provide your body with calories but contain very little nutrients.

There are almost 155 calories in one 12-ounce can of beer, and 125 calories in a 5-ounce glass of red wine. By comparison, a recommended afternoon snack should have between 150 and 200 calories.

Metabolism of alcohol

Alcohol unlike carbs, protein and fat is not stored in the body. Hence the liver metabolizes alcohol as a priority in preference to any food you consume.

20 per cent of the alcohol you consume is absorbed directly from your stomach into the blood stream and goes directly into your brain. The rest of the alcohol enters the small gut and is absorbed with the other food. Alcohol is then metabolized in the liver and is excreted through your sweat, saliva, urine, and your breath.

Metabolism of alcohol solely occurs in the liver and those who indulge in excess cause liver problems. Alcoholic fatty liver is quite a good example, and with further daily indulgence makes the liver harder (cirrhosis) and lead to failure of functions.

Alcohol is made less toxic through a process of detoxification in the liver, is removed through a process called oxidation.

Excess alcohol damages your liver

One of the severe side effects of alcoholism is liver damage, may lead to death.

Alcohol is converted into acetaldehyde a toxic enzyme that can damage liver cells and cause fibrosis (scarring). It is also a carcinogen. Alcohol dehydrates the body, and the liver requires water to function correctly. When the body lacks it, the liver requires to force to pull in water from other sources.

It is very important to hydrate yourself by drinking plenty of water or any sweet drinks after a heavy session of drinking alcohol.

Your liver can become fatty, or cause inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) and end in cirrhosis with regular excessive drinking.

In a fatty liver there is infiltration or buildup of fat in the liver cells when you drink too much of alcohol more than the liver can cope. Fat infiltration causes inflammation of the liver cells and results in alcoholic hepatitis.

Alcoholic hepatitis is caused by excessive drinking alcohol for a long time. Ultimately the liver cells are replaced by scar tissue (fibrosis) and the term cirrhosis is used.

When you are diagnosed with cirrhosis you need to stop alcohol totally and the liver cells may repair and attempt to function normally. If it is in the irreversible phase unfortunately stopping alcohol may not help.

Portal hypertension

Cirrhosis of the liver also causes obstruction to the flow of blood from the gut through the portal veins. The veins get distended, and we call the condition as portal hypertension.

Veins in relation to the lower esophagus and the stomach can get distended and varicosed. These delicate veins can rupture and cause vomiting of blood (hematemesis)

This is an irreversible stage of cirrhosis that causes the veins feeding the liver to distend and rupture.

Fluid collects in your abdominal cavity (ascites), and varicosed veins are seen on the abdominal wall. Legs start swelling and your life is in danger.

Generally, it is important to eat a healthy diet to lead a healthier liver. Avoid eating processed foods, sugars, and saturated fat to ease the burden on the liver.

Most people drink less as they grow older, as the hangovers they experience day after could be a misery. Some people tend to drink more as they get older due to loneliness, losing a loved one, reduced income and so on.

As you get older the ability of the liver to metabolize alcohol declines. Older people drinking the same amount of alcohol as younger people, the blood concentration of alcohol seems to remain longer among the old, as the elimination is slower.

Age related changes and alcohol

Age related changes like your eyesight, hearing and reflexes may get accelerated with chronic excessive alcohol consumption. These changes will make you feel dizzy, unsteady on your feet and alcohol related falls, automobile accidents and so on.

Do not mix up your medication and alcohol. Your medication that you take for your age- related illnesses including heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, among others may have deleterious effects on your body. So, please do not mix medication with alcohol. It is advisable not to drink alcoholic beverages when you are on any medication.

Beer vs. Hard Liquor debate

Drinking alcoholic beverages, including beer, by healthy people seems to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. Moderate alcohol use (one to two drinks per day) reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, and heart attack by approximately 30% to 50% when compared with nondrinkers.

Because beer contains empty calories, drinking too much of it can make you prone to weight gain and obesity, which is the root of many other health issues. Excessive beer consumption can also increase your risk of heart disease, liver disease, and alcohol dependency.

Potential health benefits of Beer.

Beer has vitamins and minerals and antioxidants.

Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Several reviews have suggested that consuming one to two beers a day may help lower your risk of heart disease. In fact, beer may be as effective at improving general heart health as wine at comparable alcohol levels.

One study showed that one drink a day lowered the risk of all-cause mortality for women and up to two beers a day produced the same results for men. While one study is not enough to identify the cause for this, research is promising.

Drinking light amounts of alcohol may help reduce the risk of developing diabetes and help people with diabetes control their blood sugar more effectively. One study showed that one to two alcoholic drinks a day could lower the risk of developing diabetes by as much as 50%.

Beer strengthens your bones.

Research reveals that moderate amount of beer strengthens bones for men and postmenopausal women. This is due to the high silicon content, and higher amounts of this micronutrient have been suggested to prevent bone loss and help ward off osteoporosis.

How much alcohol can you drink to avoid complications.

For healthy men up to age 60- no more than four drinks in a day and no more than 14 drinks a week.

For healthy women and healthy men over 60-no more than three drinks ina day or seven drinks in a week.

Asians being smaller made should restrict to two drinks a day.

New research, which was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference, has found that moderate drinking is linked to a longer life. Drinking about two glasses of wine or beer a day was linked to an 18% drop in a person’s risk of early death—an even stronger effect than the life-preserving practice of exercise, according to the researchers.

A 2015 study of people with mild Alzheimer’s, found that moderate drinkers were less likely to die during the study’s follow-up period than teetotalers. A large 2017 study also found that light and moderate drinkers were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who never sipped. Red wine, in particular, is often singled out for its anti-aging benefits, usually because of a compound called resveratrol — though that explanation may be a little oversimplified, and more research is needed.

A large 2017 study looking at alcohol and heart health, however, was designed to eliminate the possibility of abstainer bias. It still found that moderate drinking may protect against heart attacks, strokes, chest pain and fatal heart disease. (ref: TIME HEALTH-by Jamie Ducharme).

New findings: No healthy level of alcohol consumption, says major study

Governments should consider advising people to abstain entirely, say authors. Article appears in The Guardian-written by Sarah Bosely.

The article states, “Even the occasional drink is harmful to health, according to the largest and most detailed research carried out on the effects of alcohol, which suggests governments should think of advising people to abstain completely.

The uncompromising message comes from the authors of the Global Burden of Diseases study, a rolling project based at the University of Washington, in Seattle, which produces the most comprehensive data on the causes of illness and death in the world.”

Conclusions: If you understand the word ‘moderation’ you are qualified to have a drink or two, daily. Abstaining would be better. Then, studies show that people who drink moderately live longer. Take your pick.

Hope this video presentation was useful. Goodbye for now and stay safe.

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