Can you learn to drink alcohol? You will know after reading this article

In real life, for ordinary people like us, is there any way to improve our drinking capacity?

Many people put their hopes on "God will reward hard work", thinking that if they drink a little more each time, they will be able to improve their alcohol tolerance over time. From my own experience and the experience of people around me, it seems to be somewhat effective, but these are actually illusions of the body. What is the truth? After reading this article, I believe that many people will not dare to drink recklessly anymore.

Whether you can drink it "enjoyably" depends on their working ability

Can you really train yourself to be a good drinker? This starts with how alcohol is metabolized in our body.

Alcohol is also called ethanol. When we drink it, it will be distributed throughout the body with the blood. A small part of it can be expelled from the body through breathing. The alcohol content in the exhaled gas is roughly proportional to the alcohol concentration in the blood, so we can check whether the driver has drunk alcohol by blowing. The rest of the alcohol will be metabolized in the liver. The metabolic process of alcohol in the liver is very complicated, and it is boring to talk about it in full. We just need to understand the most important part.

Among them, the most important one is called "alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) ethanol oxidation system". This metabolic pathway requires the help of two brothers: the eldest brother "alcohol dehydrogenase" and the second brother "acetaldehyde dehydrogenase". Let's take a look at how the two brothers help us metabolize alcohol.

First of all, alcohol that enters the body can make us feel "refreshed" to a certain extent. Specifically, it is the feeling of "happy, relaxed, and wanting to talk freely", which is also the reason why some people love to drink. Of course, to maintain this "refreshing" feeling, the premise is that the alcohol concentration in the body is maintained at an appropriate level. If the concentration is too high, it will manifest as drunkenness, loss of consciousness, coma or even death, which is alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol turns into acetaldehyde under the action of the eldest brother "alcohol dehydrogenase". Unlike alcohol, acetaldehyde is a substance that makes us "uncomfortable". It can cause blushing and nausea, and can also cause mutations in our cells and promote the formation of tumors. What should we do? We can't just sit there and wait for death. At this time, the second brother "acetaldehyde dehydrogenase" comes into play, decomposing acetaldehyde and converting it into non-toxic acetic acid. Acetic acid is further metabolized into water, carbon dioxide and energy in the liver, and finally completes the metabolism of alcohol. This is a process of our own hangover.

The working ability of the two brothers largely determines our ability to drink. If the eldest and second brothers have good working abilities, the entire process of decomposing alcohol (ethanol) is unimpeded, and the metabolism of alcohol is relatively smooth, allowing us to taste the appropriate "refreshing feeling" brought by alcohol without being harmed by acetaldehyde.

"Not getting drunk after drinking a thousand cups" is a talent. These people are not naturally good at drinking.

But imagine a situation like this: the eldest brother (alcohol dehydrogenase) is a workaholic, and the second brother (acetaldehyde dehydrogenase) likes to slack off. What consequences will this lead to?

At this time, the eldest brother will continuously convert alcohol into acetaldehyde, but the second brother cannot decompose the acetaldehyde in time. This is troublesome. Acetaldehyde will accumulate in the body, and the toxic effects of acetaldehyde will quickly strike, such as flushed face, nausea and discomfort.

Those who cannot drink much, or whose face turns red after taking a sip, usually have a workaholic elder brother and a lazy second brother living in their bodies.

Some friends said, if I practice drinking more and improve my working ability (attitude), can I improve my drinking capacity?

Unfortunately, the characteristics of the two brothers are determined by our genes. They are innate and cannot be changed much.

In which groups does this alcohol metabolism disorder mainly occur? Mainly in East Asians. In China, mainly in the southeast, that is, the Han Chinese-dominated area, it accounts for about 30%.

So, how do you tell if you are one of the 30%? It's simple, just answer these two questions: First, do you blush soon after drinking a glass of beer (about 180 ml)? Second, in the first few years after you started drinking, did you have the situation in question one? As long as one of the answers is yes, then congratulations, you are one of the 30%.

The result of "practice" is an illusion. The redness of the face is due to numbness of blood vessels.

For people who are not naturally good at drinking, my advice is to drink as little as possible to avoid harming the body. However, some people still refuse to accept this: "If you drink more, your alcohol tolerance will still improve a little."

This statement is unscientific. In fact, "Flushing Syndrome" is the body's natural warning and protection, which can prevent individuals from alcohol (ethanol) poisoning. If you insist on drinking heavily and exercising your alcohol tolerance despite this discomfort, it seems that "Flushing Syndrome" has eased a little, but this is because the blood vessels in our faces are numb to the stimulation and appear less red. In fact, acetaldehyde that is not metabolized in time in the body is still continuously damaging our organs. So people who can't drink well should not drink if they can.

Even if you can drink a lot, don't overindulge yourself in alcohol, as it can still damage your body.

At this point, some friends may be complacent: "I was born with a good alcohol tolerance. It turns out that God has given me an excellent gene. Now I can fully enjoy the fun of drinking." But don't be too happy too soon. Although you have won at the starting line, you still can't drink recklessly. There are at least the following reasons:

First of all, if a person has a strong ability to metabolize acetaldehyde, it only means that he metabolizes it faster and accumulates less acetaldehyde in the body, but it does not mean that there is no toxicity at all. Long-term drinking and drinking in large quantities will accumulate little by little, and the harm caused by acetaldehyde will still be manifested.

Secondly, in addition to the intermediate product acetaldehyde, alcohol (ethanol) can harm our body in many ways. High concentrations of alcohol have a direct toxic effect on the digestive tract epithelium. Alcohol can increase the activity of an enzyme called CYP3E1 in the body, promoting the production of a large number of oxygen free radicals, which are related to the cancer of tissues such as the liver, colorectum, and esophagus. At the same time, long-term and heavy drinking can affect the absorption and metabolism of folic acid, which is related to the occurrence of liver cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.

In addition, excessive drinking can affect immune function, estrogen levels, and cause digestive tract flora imbalance. These negative factors will erode physical health and even promote the occurrence of tumors.

Here are some tips for you to sober up

Most people agree that alcohol is harmful to health. But some people may say that it is inevitable to drink alcohol at work or at friends' gatherings. If we have to drink alcohol sometimes, what should we do?

Here are two reliable ways to sober up: first, relieve the absorption of alcohol; second, speed up the excretion of alcohol.

Before drinking, we should eat more food, drink some yogurt, and eat a banana to fill our stomachs, slow down the absorption of alcohol, and reduce the pressure on the body to metabolize alcohol.

Try to drink more water, or take some hangover medicine. They have a diuretic effect, which can help us excrete alcohol as soon as possible and also have the effect of sobering up.

Finally, I would like to give you four sentences as a summary. Han people have metabolic disorders, and drinking more will not speed up the metabolism. If you want to protect your liver from damage, drink more water and eat more vegetables.

Tip: Minors are not allowed to drink!

Source: Zhu Zhixiang and Zhang Xiaodan, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences