Alcohol and Nutrition

Hi Everyone!

Have you ever thought about the relationship alcohol use has with your nutrition? Maybe you think about the intense dehydration that alcohol can cause. Perhaps the famous “beer belly” comes to mind. Some people say that you should eat a large amount of food when consuming alcohol while others prefer consuming alcohol with an empty stomach. Alcohol affects your body and nutrition in many intricate ways, which I will discuss in some detail below.

Did you know that consuming alcohol can start affecting your body within a minute of consumption? Because alcohol does not require digestion in order to be absorbed, it rapidly diffuses through the stomach walls to reach the brain. Diffusion of alcohol through the stomach is slowed by food in the stomach because alcohol cannot reach the stomach walls efficiently when food is present. Some of the alcohol molecules are also destroyed by stomach enzymes that are digesting the food. That is the reason people with an empty stomach feel the effects of alcohol use faster than a person who has food in the stomach. Any alcohol molecules that reach the small intestine are also quickly absorbed. While alcohol affects various organs in different ways, alcohol specifically dehydrates the brain by reducing the water content of brain cells.

So how does alcohol use effect nutrition? Alcohol is full of discretionary (“empty”) calories that does not benefit the body. Both alcohol and its mixers contain extra calories that promote fat storage in the body. Since alcohol is often consumed with calorie dense meals and snacks, fat storage may be multiplied. Alcohol also disrupts body tissue’s nutrient metabolism. Alcohol use may cause cells in the intestine to fail in absorbing Vitamin B12, thiamin, and folate. The liver does not activate Vitamin D efficiently when alcohol is present. Alcohol also affects retinal function because the ethanol in an alcoholic beverage displaces the retinol the retina needs to function. The presence of alcohol may cause the stomach to secrete more histamine than normal, causing inflammation. The kidneys may excrete essential minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, and potassium when alcohol is present.

You may have heard that red wine has some health promoting properties. There are conflicting studies and schools of thought about the health effects of red wine. While red wine is high in potassium and contains phytonutrients that may reduce heart disease and colon cancer, it is an alcoholic beverage that may cause some of the issues I mentioned earlier in this entry. Talk with your doctor or medical professional about the health effects of red wine before implementing it into your diet.