Alcohol and Your Health

Alcohol, or ethyl alcohol (ethanol), refers to the intoxicating ingredient found in wine, beer and hard liquor. Alcohol arises naturally from carbohydrates when certain micro-organisms metabolize them in the absence of oxygen, called fermentation.

Beer, wine and other liquor contain different amounts of alcohol. The amount of alcohol in distilled liquor is known as ?proof?. Proof refers to the amount of alcohol in the liquor; for example, 100 proof liquor contains 50% alcohol, 40 proof liquor contains 20% alcohol, and so on. Traditional wine has approximately 8-14% alcohol, while regular beer has 4-6% alcohol.

Recent studies show that moderate use of alcohol may have a beneficial effect on the coronary system. In general, for healthy people, one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men would be considered the maximum amount of alcohol consumption to be considered moderate use. (By ?healthy? people, we are referring to non-pregnant women, individuals not addicted to alcohol, and people without pre-existing medical conditions, among others). However, the amount of alcohol that a person can drink safely is highly individual, depending on genetics, age, sex, weight and family history, etc. A ?drink? is considered to be:

*4-5 ounces of wine
*10 ounces of wine cooler
* 12 ounces of beer
* 1-1/4 ounces of distilled liquor (80 proof whiskey, vodka, scotch, or rum)

How Alcohol Travels Through the Body

Alcohol is metabolized extremely quickly by the body. Unlike foods, which require time for digestion, alcohol needs no digestion and is quickly absorbed. Alcohol gets ?VIP? treatment in the body ? absorbing and metabolizing before most other nutrients. About 20 percent is absorbed directly across the walls of an empty stomach and can reach the brain within one minute.

Once alcohol reaches the stomach, it begins to break down with the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme. This process reduces the amount of alcohol entering the blood by approximately 20%. (Women produce less of this enzyme, which may help to partially explain why women become more intoxicated on less alcohol than men.). In addition, about 10% of the alcohol is expelled in the breath and urine.

How the Liver Breaks Down Alcohol

The alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme breaks down alcohol by removing hydrogen in two steps:

1. Alcohol dehydrogenase oxidizes alcohol to acetaldehyde

2. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase oxidizes the acetaldehyde to acetyl CoA. These reactions produce hydrogen ions (acid). The B vitamin niacin (in its role as the coenzyme NAD) picks up these hydrogen ions (becoming NADH). Thus when alcohol is metabolized, NAD diminishes and NADH increases.



During alcohol metabolism, NAD becomes unavailable for the many other vital body processes for which it is needed, including glycolysis, the TCA cycle and the electron transport chain. Without NAD, the energy pathway is blocked, and alternative routes are taken, with serious physical consequences:

The accumulation of hydrogen atoms shifts the body?s balance toward acid.


The accumulation of NADH slows the TCA cycle, resulting in a build up of pyruvate and acetyl CoA. Excess acetyl CoA results in fatty acid synthesis and fat begins to clog the liver. (An accumulation of fat in the liver can be observed after only a single night of heavy drinking).