Alcohol
Content
Healthy Lifestyle
Next
Exit
Table of contents
Animation What is alcohol ? Benefits of alcohol Alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts
Back Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
The alcohol in your drink is absorbed into your body through the stomach From here, the and small intestine. alcohol is distributed via the bloodstream throughout the body, reaching your heart, brain, muscles and other tissues. This happens within a few minutes. Usually, though not always, this has a pleasant effect. Next
Food slows down the rate of absorption - alcohol will affect you more quickly on an empty stomach.
Back
Table of contents
Exit
From here, the alcohol is distributed via the bloodstream throughout the body, reaching your heart, brain, muscles and other tissues. This happens within a few minutes. Usually, though not always, this has a pleasant effect.
Back
Next
Table of contents
Your body's ability to process alcohol depends on various things, like your age, weight and sex. Your body breaks down alcohol at a rate of about one unit per hour, there's no way you can speed this up!
Exit
Your body can't store alcohol, so it has to get rid of it - mostly via your liver. First, the liver changes alcohol into acetaldehyde - a highly toxic substance. This turns into acetate, a harmless substance, which is passed out in the urine. Some alcohol is also excreted through the breath and sweat.
Back
Next
Table of contents
The amount of alcohol in the blood is known as the blood alcohol concentration or BAC. Your BAC depends on how much you've drunk and how quickly you drank it.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
If you're small, your blood alcohol volume is obviously less than that of someone who is larger. So the same amount of alcohol will probably affect you more.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
What is alcohol?
Alcohol is a common term for ethanol, a compound produced when glucose is fermented by yeast. The alcohol content of a particular drink is controlled by the amount of yeast and length of fermentation. Fruit is used to make wine and cider, while cereals such as barley and rye form the basis of beer and spirits. Alcohol is a drug that has the immediate effect of altering mood. Drinking it makes people feel relaxed, happy and even euphoric, but in fact alcohol is a depressant. It switches off the part of the brain that controls judgment, leading to loss of inhibitions. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol can affect physical coordination. The liver breaks down and eliminates alcohol from the body. It takes the liver about one hour to deal with one unit of alcohol (8g).
Back
Next
Table of contents
Benefits of alcohol
Alcohol consumed in moderation is thought to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Indeed, alcohol consumption in conjunction with high intakes of fruit and vegetables may well explain the so-called 'French paradox'. The French diet is considered to be very high in fat, especially saturated fat, yet the death rate from coronary heart disease (CHD) remains relatively low. A research study published in 1992 suggested that the low death rates from CHD could be due to the relatively high consumption of wine in France. A similar pattern of diet and alcohol consumption has also been found in other south European countries where heart disease rates are also lower compared with other parts of the world. These observations prompted a long series of research studies analyzing the relationship between wine and CHD. It's still not entirely clear how alcohol reduces your risk of CHD, but it's now known a large proportion of the risk reduction is due to moderate alcohol intake raising 'good' cholesterol concentrations in the blood, so reducing the risk of blood clots. Red wine, in particular, also contains flavonoids that act as antioxidants, which help to reduce the buildup of atherosclerosis (when fat builds up on the inner walls of arteries). Red wine seems to help maintain the flexibility of the blood vessel walls.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts
· Alcohol abuse is a disease that is
Exit
Back
characterized by the sufferer having a pattern of drinking excessively despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual's work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. · Signs of alcohol intoxication include the smell of alcohol on the breath or skin, glazed or bloodshot eyes, the person being unusually passive or argumentative, and/or a deterioration in the person's appearance or hygiene. · Alcoholism is a destructive pattern of alcohol use that includes a number of symptoms, including tolerance to or withdrawal from the substance, using more alcohol and/or for a longer time than planned, and trouble reducing its use. · Alcohol, especially when consumed in excess, can affect teens, women, men, and the elderly quite differently.
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Exit
Table of contents
Animation What is alcohol ? Benefits of alcohol Alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts
Back Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
The alcohol in your drink is absorbed into your body through the stomach From here, the and small intestine. alcohol is distributed via the bloodstream throughout the body, reaching your heart, brain, muscles and other tissues. This happens within a few minutes. Usually, though not always, this has a pleasant effect. Next
Food slows down the rate of absorption - alcohol will affect you more quickly on an empty stomach.
Back
Table of contents
Exit
From here, the alcohol is distributed via the bloodstream throughout the body, reaching your heart, brain, muscles and other tissues. This happens within a few minutes. Usually, though not always, this has a pleasant effect.
Back
Next
Table of contents
Your body's ability to process alcohol depends on various things, like your age, weight and sex. Your body breaks down alcohol at a rate of about one unit per hour, there's no way you can speed this up!
Exit
Your body can't store alcohol, so it has to get rid of it - mostly via your liver. First, the liver changes alcohol into acetaldehyde - a highly toxic substance. This turns into acetate, a harmless substance, which is passed out in the urine. Some alcohol is also excreted through the breath and sweat.
Back
Next
Table of contents
The amount of alcohol in the blood is known as the blood alcohol concentration or BAC. Your BAC depends on how much you've drunk and how quickly you drank it.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
If you're small, your blood alcohol volume is obviously less than that of someone who is larger. So the same amount of alcohol will probably affect you more.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Exit
What is alcohol?
Alcohol is a common term for ethanol, a compound produced when glucose is fermented by yeast. The alcohol content of a particular drink is controlled by the amount of yeast and length of fermentation. Fruit is used to make wine and cider, while cereals such as barley and rye form the basis of beer and spirits. Alcohol is a drug that has the immediate effect of altering mood. Drinking it makes people feel relaxed, happy and even euphoric, but in fact alcohol is a depressant. It switches off the part of the brain that controls judgment, leading to loss of inhibitions. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol can affect physical coordination. The liver breaks down and eliminates alcohol from the body. It takes the liver about one hour to deal with one unit of alcohol (8g).
Back
Next
Table of contents
Benefits of alcohol
Alcohol consumed in moderation is thought to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Indeed, alcohol consumption in conjunction with high intakes of fruit and vegetables may well explain the so-called 'French paradox'. The French diet is considered to be very high in fat, especially saturated fat, yet the death rate from coronary heart disease (CHD) remains relatively low. A research study published in 1992 suggested that the low death rates from CHD could be due to the relatively high consumption of wine in France. A similar pattern of diet and alcohol consumption has also been found in other south European countries where heart disease rates are also lower compared with other parts of the world. These observations prompted a long series of research studies analyzing the relationship between wine and CHD. It's still not entirely clear how alcohol reduces your risk of CHD, but it's now known a large proportion of the risk reduction is due to moderate alcohol intake raising 'good' cholesterol concentrations in the blood, so reducing the risk of blood clots. Red wine, in particular, also contains flavonoids that act as antioxidants, which help to reduce the buildup of atherosclerosis (when fat builds up on the inner walls of arteries). Red wine seems to help maintain the flexibility of the blood vessel walls.
Exit
Back
Next
Table of contents
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse facts
· Alcohol abuse is a disease that is
Exit
Back
characterized by the sufferer having a pattern of drinking excessively despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual's work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. · Signs of alcohol intoxication include the smell of alcohol on the breath or skin, glazed or bloodshot eyes, the person being unusually passive or argumentative, and/or a deterioration in the person's appearance or hygiene. · Alcoholism is a destructive pattern of alcohol use that includes a number of symptoms, including tolerance to or withdrawal from the substance, using more alcohol and/or for a longer time than planned, and trouble reducing its use. · Alcohol, especially when consumed in excess, can affect teens, women, men, and the elderly quite differently.
Next
Table of contents
Exit
Back
