The Toxic Truth: How Alcohol Affects Your Body and Easy Ways to Avoid It
Registered nutritionist and PhD holder, Shilpa Arora, recently shared her insights on how alcohol can impact your health, even in moderate consumption. We discuss her groundbreaking revelation and offer a helpful hack to avoid alcohol at social gatherings.
Alcohol’s Lasting Impact on Your Body
Shilpa Arora highlighted a sobering fact: alcohol is toxic and can linger in your body for up to a week. When you consume alcohol, it doesn’t get dugested and reaches directly to your lymphocyte vessels. It gets absorbed directly into your system. This toxic liquid forces your liver to stop its other functions and focus solely on metabolizing the alcohol. This process can disrupt your metabolism, gut health, and energy levels, according to Arora.
The Science Behind Alcohol Metabolism
When alcohol enters your body, it’s broken down primarily in the liver. This process can take several hours, and leftover acetaldehyde, a byproduct of metabolizing alcohol, can remain in the body for up to a week, irritating tissues and damaging cells. Pair this with the fact that alcohol can also slow down metabolism, and you have a recipe for potential health problems in the long run.
This is what happens if you drink alcohol. Have a chat with your doctor right after drinking.
The Effect on Your Appearance and Health
According to Shilpa Arora, her personal experience of never consuming alcohol has helped her maintain clear skin and a healthy weight. Because alcohol negatively influences the functioning of the liver and drags down your metabolism, it can contribute to issues with skin health and excess weight. Therefore it isn’t necessarily surprising that alcohol consumption can speed up your aging.
The Social Pressures: Why It’s Difficult to Say No
Arora also touched on the social pressures that often lead people to consume alcohol. Almost 90% of people drink alcohol under peer pressure to look cool, she revealed. This pressure can make it difficult to avoid alcohol, especially in social situations.
Pro Tip
Arora shared a simple but effective tip to avoid drinking alcohol at social events: mix a few bitters and a slice of orange in water. This non-alcoholic beverage will help you maintain your social circuit without annoying peer pressures. CEH Editor tip is to add some non-alcoholic carbonated water to it and mix well!
Mocktails: A Healthier Alternative? Not Always
Choosing mocktails over alcoholic beverages might seem like a healthier option, but Arora cautioned that many mocktails are loaded with sugar. She suggested opting for her bitter water and orange slice concoction. It is a healthier and effective option for maintaining your goals.
Alcohol Effects on Your Body
Effects of alcohol on human body can be highlighted as follows:
| Aspect | Effects |
|---|---|
| Metabolism | Slows down metabolism |
| Energy Levels | Reduces energy levels |
| Digestive Health | Disrupts gut health |
| Liver Function | Forces the liver to prioritize metabolizing alcohol, potentially damaging it. |
| Skin Health | Can lead to skin problems and premature aging. |
FAQ
How does alcohol stay in your body for a week?
When you consume alcohol, it gets digested directly and your liver slows down its functions to metabolize it. Toxic alcohol damages your body over a week as the liver exerts more workload to remove the acetic acid and TEAA produced from acetyls converted from ethanol.
Can mocktails be a healthier alternative to alcohol?
While mocktails can be a good alternative to alcohol, many of them are high in sugar, which can lead to other health issues. Consider making a healthier mocktail like the one suggested by Arora. Hardly consumes calories as in a heavy beer cocktail.
What’s recommended alternative to avoid social pressure for alcohol?
Mix a few bitters, orange slice and serve it on the rocks.
How does alcohol affect your metabolism?
Consuming alcohol slows down your metabolism and makes it hard to control weight gain.