The effects of alcohol:
all too familiar to some of us brings about a merry night of fun and laughter
climaxing in a seemingly joyful sleep and then when you
think it couldn't get any better - a lovely whack in the face, followed by
the famous last words, "I will never drink ever again."
The feelings are all too familiar
You've been here before
But what on earth is going on in your body to make you feel this way?
In a previous video, which you can click here, we
describe the effects of alcohol on the brain and why it dehydrates you.
Apart from just water, your body is also excreting many components such as salt, potassium,
and glucose which are required for normal muscle coordination and brain function.
But there is more to it.
The site of detoxification in your body is located within your liver.
Everything that you ingest is broken down in your
digestive system to become small enough that the nutrients are released into the bloodstream.
These nutrients had to deliver for a sort of quality control
In the liver, something called enzymes are used to help break down and process
nutrients but also remove any toxins when need be.
After being processed by
the liver the products are now safe to enter the whole body's bloodstream.
Alcohol, otherwise known as ethanol, is absorbed in the stomach and makes its
way to the liver to pass this clearance test.
First, the enzymes turn alcohol into
acetyl aldehyde. Then a different enzyme plus a compound called glutathione
changes the acetyl aldehyde into acetate, which is easily excreted by the body.
Problem is, there's not a lot of glutathione in the liver. Therefore as
you drink more the glutathione stores start to run out, leaving more acetyl
aldehyde to circulate your body.
So, what's so special about acetyl aldehyde?
Well, it happens to be 10 to 30 times more toxic than alcohol itself and can
lead to headaches and feeling nauseous.
So, while your liver is working extra
hard to produce more glutathione, the acetyl aldehyde is now free to roam your
body and is most likely what is making you feel like a non-functioning member of society.
In fact, suffering alcoholics are often
given a drug called antabuse in order to stop the conversion of a
acetyl aldehyde to acetate.
This causes them to feel the pain of their hangover
much more severely and hopes to have them stop drinking.
So, is there anything we can do about it?
Stay tuned for our next video about how to help cure your hangover.