BASIC FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL
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Which is more harmful, Beer or Wine?
The majority of people’s opinion is that drinking beer has more serious negative health consequences than wine and will shun beer as a harmful alcoholic drink but readily embrace wine as a safer drink. Contrary to this popular belief, wine has a higher alcohol content as compared to beer. Sprits and whisky have the highest level of alcohol content because, while beer and wine are made through fermentation, whiskeys are produced from distillation.
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In comparison, beer and wine are
similar depending on the amount one takes. Actually, beer, wine, and spirits
have the same amount of alcohol content, depending on the amount of alcohol consumed.
This concept can be better explained if we consider the understanding of a standard
drink.
A standard drink is any drink that
contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol, it is equivalent to 1 bottle of beer, for
example, Tusker (330 ml) which contains 4.5% alcohol content. This amount is
equivalent to a glass of wine (140 ml) which contains 12% alcohol content,
which in turn is equivalent to a shot of Whisky, let’s say Jack Daniels (40 ml)
which contains 40% alcohol content. In this concept of a standard drink, 1
bottle of wine (750 ml) is equivalent to 5 bottles of Tusker (330 ml), while 1
bottle of whiskey (750 ml) contains 18 standard drinks.
Alcohol absorption
Alcohol
is absorbed into the bloodstream both from the stomach and duodenum and
circulated throughout the entire body. When food is consumed with alcohol, the
food dilutes the alcohol concentration in the stomach and delays passage into
the duodenum, slowing absorption and decreasing the subjective effects of
alcohol. Food delays and lowers peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) but also
lower the total amount of alcohol reaching the systemic circulation.
Alcohol
absorption is fastest when the stomach is empty. It distributes rapidly, with
concentrations in body water 10 times higher than in body fat. Shortly after
alcohol ingestion, the ethanol concentration in the brain is higher than the
venous concentration. The kidneys and lungs remove about 10 percent of the
alcohol while approximately 5%–10% of alcohol is excreted in the breath and
urine.
Alcohol metabolism
The primary route of alcohol
metabolism is oxidation to acetaldehyde and acetic acid. The stomach and the
small intestines produce an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase which helps in
the breakdown of alcohol to water and acetate acid. The liver breaks down the
rest of the alcohol into acetic acid. Some of the alcohol is converted
to other substances such as fat commonly known as in "beer belly”. Some is
burned as energy and converted to water and carbon dioxide.
Lower
levels of Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) enzyme in women may account for the
higher blood alcohol concentrations in women than in men given equivalent
amounts of alcohol. This is the reason why a woman will become intoxicated fast
compared to a man and also why women are more likely to develop alcohol
addiction as compared to men.
Drinking Patterns
Based
on these scientific realities WHO has developed patterns of drinking that helps
in preventing negative health consequences to the consumer:
- Low risk drinking: Not more than 4 drinks or 3 drinks
per day or not more than 14 drinks per week
- At risk drinking: More than 4 drinks per day
- Binge: heavy episodic consumption of more
than 4 drinks in women and more than 5 drinks per occasion for men or more than
5 drinks per occasion at least once in the past 30 days or a pattern of
drinking alcohol that brings Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level to 0.8 +
in 2 hours.
Alcohol
consumption occurs along a continuum, and drinking patterns vary considerably
among individuals, with no clear demarcation between “social” or “moderate”
drinking and “problem” or “harmful” drinking.
Worried about crossing the line from “Social Use” to Problematic Use?
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us: https://web.facebook.com/FarajaFCS
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