Ethyl alcohol or ethanol, normally found in commonly used alcoholic beverages, is a substance derived from the fermentation of sugars contained in fruit (wine) or cereal starch (beer) or tubers. Alcohol, while making about 7 Kcalories per gram, is not a nutrient (such as proteins, carbohydrates or dietary fats), its consumption is not useful to the organism or its functions and its energy supply is almost totally lost. in the form of heat. Moreover, it is a toxic substance, potentially carcinogenic and with a capacity to induce higher dependence on the most known illegal substances or drugs. It is certainly a source of direct damage to the cells of many organs, among which the most vulnerable are the liver and the central nervous.
METABOLISM OF ALCOHOL
Alcohol is absorbed at the level of the stomach and from the first part of the intestine, passes into the blood and reaches the liver, where it is metabolized thanks to a specific enzyme: alkolde hydrogenase. As long as all the alcohol has not been metabolized it continues to circulate spreading in the various organs. The liver removes 90% -98% of the ingested alcohol, the remaining 2-10% is eliminated through urine, feces, breath, breast milk, tears, sweat, perspiration. The toxins in the form of metabolites remain inside the various organs and organs of the body, damaging them irreparably. Therefore, the body of a person who habitually consumes alcohol is a mined organism.
Alcohol dependency
Alcohol generates first a mechanism of physical and subsequently psychological dependence. The first is represented by addiction or tolerance, the second by the desire to take alcohol in order to live in states that are defined as "pleasant", thanks to the action induced by alcohol on the central nervous system. The usual consumption of alcoholic beverages such as the famous "glass of wine per meal" triggers, without being conscious of it, a mechanism of addiction or tolerance, so that those who drink, can gradually increase the doses without realizing it. This progressive adaptation of the organism to the effects of the substance are due to an increase in the ability of the liver to metabolize alcohol and to a greater resistance of the brain to its psychoactive effects. Tolerance usually develops over the course of years, so many people find themselves increasing their consumption of alcoholic beverages almost without realizing it, inexorably poisoning the body and unintentionally becoming chronic alcoholics. At the same time, he set himself up for a framework of psychological dependence. Alcohol has depressive effects on the nervous system, therefore behaves like an anxiolytic. If the sedative action of alcohol suddenly fails, the organism remains displaced and there is an imbalance that results in the appearance of the so-called "withdrawal symptoms" characterized by agitation and irritability, up to the most serious cases of "delirium tremes ". Those who experience these symptoms also feel a deep desire to drink alcohol just to bypass the unpleasant sensations associated with abstinence.
ORGANIC DAMAGES FROM ALCOHOL
Alcohol is a poison and there are no recommended daily health doses. Although in recent times some studies have identified tannins in a glass of red wine as a possible protective role against the cardio-circulatory system, this does not mean that consuming wine or other alcoholic beverages is healthy. Organic alcohol-induced damage occurs at whatever step of the "alcohol consumer" scale you are.
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE BRAIN: motor difficulties, speech difficulties, slow reaction times, memory impairment. Some of these deficits are already detectable after one or two glasses, and they resolve after the interruption of alcohol use. However, in some individuals who drink a lot and for a long time, such deficits can persist even once sobriety is reached. Moreover, they run the risk of developing serious and permanent brain changes, thanks to a bad general health condition or to a serious liver disease also caused by alcohol, such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), linked to a chronic deficiency of thiamine (or vit.B1), frequent in alcoholics due to poor general nutrition.
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE LIVER: hepatic steatosis that can develop into an alcoholic hepatitis. That problem can determine the onset of liver cirrhosis which very often precedes a hepatic encephalopathy. Hepatic encephalopathy can cause changes in sleep, mood and personality, psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, severe cognitive effects and in severe cases can lead to potentially deadly coma.
OTHER ALCOHOL-INDUCED DAMAGES:
• Avitaminosis, both due to reduced intake of vegetables and fresh fruit, and to the direct obstruction of alcohol to the absorption of various vitamins.
• STARVATION
• Inflammation of various areas of the digestive tract: esophagitis, gastritis, pancreatitis.
• Alcoholic heart disease (dilation of cardiac cavities, reduced range).
• Changes in sexuality (loss of libido, infertility, impotence).
• Digestive tract tumors (oral cavity, esophagus).
Alcohol consumption should be completely avoided, and those who justified its consumption in favor of a protective action on the cardiovascular system must confront a recent study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) conducted by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that belies its usefulness and underlines its harmfulness. Moreover, for consumers who are passionate about alcohol it is worth remembering some points highlighted by the health ministry:
1. It is not true that alcohol helps digestion. On the contrary, it slows down and produces gastric hypersecretion with altered emptying of the stomach.
2. It is not true that wine makes good blood. Alcohol consumption can be responsible for various forms of anemia and increased fats in the blood.
3. It is not true that alcoholic drinks are thirst-quenching. But they dehydrate: alcohol requires a greater amount of water for its metabolism, as it causes a blockage of the antidiuretic hormone, therefore it makes urinating more, increasing the feeling of thirst.
4. It is not entirely true that alcohol warms us up. In reality the vasodilation of which it is responsible produces only a momentary and deceptive sensation of heat on the surface which soon leads to further cooling of the body and which, in an unheated environment, increases the risk of exposure.
5. It is not true that alcohol helps to recover from a shock. On the contrary, causing peripheral vasodilation, causes a decreased blood supply to the internal organs and especially to the brain.
6. It is not true that alcohol gives strength. Being a sedative it produces only a decrease in the sense of fatigue and pain. Furthermore only a part of the calories supplied by alcohol can be used for muscular work.
7. It is not true that alcohol makes one safe. It is a common idea that alcohol is an exciting one, but from the pharmacological point of view it is a powerful depressant of the central nervous system. It acts on the part of the brain that controls behavior, causing disinhibition and a decrease in the perception of risk and feelings of pain.
8. It is not true that beer makes milk. In reality, the woman does not need beer to produce milk, but only liquids: water, fruit juices and nutritious foods. The alcohol that a woman drinks passes into breast milk and is taken by the child. Sometimes not knowing how to give up a glass of wine per meal when you are alone or in company must make you think, on which step of the "alcohol consumer" scale you are.
METABOLISM OF ALCOHOL
Alcohol is absorbed at the level of the stomach and from the first part of the intestine, passes into the blood and reaches the liver, where it is metabolized thanks to a specific enzyme: alkolde hydrogenase. As long as all the alcohol has not been metabolized it continues to circulate spreading in the various organs. The liver removes 90% -98% of the ingested alcohol, the remaining 2-10% is eliminated through urine, feces, breath, breast milk, tears, sweat, perspiration. The toxins in the form of metabolites remain inside the various organs and organs of the body, damaging them irreparably. Therefore, the body of a person who habitually consumes alcohol is a mined organism.
Alcohol dependency
Alcohol generates first a mechanism of physical and subsequently psychological dependence. The first is represented by addiction or tolerance, the second by the desire to take alcohol in order to live in states that are defined as "pleasant", thanks to the action induced by alcohol on the central nervous system. The usual consumption of alcoholic beverages such as the famous "glass of wine per meal" triggers, without being conscious of it, a mechanism of addiction or tolerance, so that those who drink, can gradually increase the doses without realizing it. This progressive adaptation of the organism to the effects of the substance are due to an increase in the ability of the liver to metabolize alcohol and to a greater resistance of the brain to its psychoactive effects. Tolerance usually develops over the course of years, so many people find themselves increasing their consumption of alcoholic beverages almost without realizing it, inexorably poisoning the body and unintentionally becoming chronic alcoholics. At the same time, he set himself up for a framework of psychological dependence. Alcohol has depressive effects on the nervous system, therefore behaves like an anxiolytic. If the sedative action of alcohol suddenly fails, the organism remains displaced and there is an imbalance that results in the appearance of the so-called "withdrawal symptoms" characterized by agitation and irritability, up to the most serious cases of "delirium tremes ". Those who experience these symptoms also feel a deep desire to drink alcohol just to bypass the unpleasant sensations associated with abstinence.
ORGANIC DAMAGES FROM ALCOHOL
Alcohol is a poison and there are no recommended daily health doses. Although in recent times some studies have identified tannins in a glass of red wine as a possible protective role against the cardio-circulatory system, this does not mean that consuming wine or other alcoholic beverages is healthy. Organic alcohol-induced damage occurs at whatever step of the "alcohol consumer" scale you are.
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE BRAIN: motor difficulties, speech difficulties, slow reaction times, memory impairment. Some of these deficits are already detectable after one or two glasses, and they resolve after the interruption of alcohol use. However, in some individuals who drink a lot and for a long time, such deficits can persist even once sobriety is reached. Moreover, they run the risk of developing serious and permanent brain changes, thanks to a bad general health condition or to a serious liver disease also caused by alcohol, such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), linked to a chronic deficiency of thiamine (or vit.B1), frequent in alcoholics due to poor general nutrition.
EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE LIVER: hepatic steatosis that can develop into an alcoholic hepatitis. That problem can determine the onset of liver cirrhosis which very often precedes a hepatic encephalopathy. Hepatic encephalopathy can cause changes in sleep, mood and personality, psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, severe cognitive effects and in severe cases can lead to potentially deadly coma.
OTHER ALCOHOL-INDUCED DAMAGES:
• Avitaminosis, both due to reduced intake of vegetables and fresh fruit, and to the direct obstruction of alcohol to the absorption of various vitamins.
• STARVATION
• Inflammation of various areas of the digestive tract: esophagitis, gastritis, pancreatitis.
• Alcoholic heart disease (dilation of cardiac cavities, reduced range).
• Changes in sexuality (loss of libido, infertility, impotence).
• Digestive tract tumors (oral cavity, esophagus).
Alcohol consumption should be completely avoided, and those who justified its consumption in favor of a protective action on the cardiovascular system must confront a recent study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) conducted by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that belies its usefulness and underlines its harmfulness. Moreover, for consumers who are passionate about alcohol it is worth remembering some points highlighted by the health ministry:
1. It is not true that alcohol helps digestion. On the contrary, it slows down and produces gastric hypersecretion with altered emptying of the stomach.
2. It is not true that wine makes good blood. Alcohol consumption can be responsible for various forms of anemia and increased fats in the blood.
3. It is not true that alcoholic drinks are thirst-quenching. But they dehydrate: alcohol requires a greater amount of water for its metabolism, as it causes a blockage of the antidiuretic hormone, therefore it makes urinating more, increasing the feeling of thirst.
4. It is not entirely true that alcohol warms us up. In reality the vasodilation of which it is responsible produces only a momentary and deceptive sensation of heat on the surface which soon leads to further cooling of the body and which, in an unheated environment, increases the risk of exposure.
5. It is not true that alcohol helps to recover from a shock. On the contrary, causing peripheral vasodilation, causes a decreased blood supply to the internal organs and especially to the brain.
6. It is not true that alcohol gives strength. Being a sedative it produces only a decrease in the sense of fatigue and pain. Furthermore only a part of the calories supplied by alcohol can be used for muscular work.
7. It is not true that alcohol makes one safe. It is a common idea that alcohol is an exciting one, but from the pharmacological point of view it is a powerful depressant of the central nervous system. It acts on the part of the brain that controls behavior, causing disinhibition and a decrease in the perception of risk and feelings of pain.
8. It is not true that beer makes milk. In reality, the woman does not need beer to produce milk, but only liquids: water, fruit juices and nutritious foods. The alcohol that a woman drinks passes into breast milk and is taken by the child. Sometimes not knowing how to give up a glass of wine per meal when you are alone or in company must make you think, on which step of the "alcohol consumer" scale you are.
