Work-related social gatherings often involve drinking, and it's rarely just "a little drink for pleasure". Excessive drinking is inevitably harmful to your health. Choosing the right food to go with alcohol can help reduce its negative effects to some extent, but not all foods are suitable as accompaniments. Let me introduce you to which foods are good to have with alcohol and which ones you should avoid on the drinking table.
Top 5 Best Foods to Pair with Alcohol:
1. Meat, poultry, and eggs rich in protein.
Foods like preserved eggs, home-style tofu, steamed chicken, and braised ribs can supplement your protein intake.
2. Vegetables and fruits that are alkaline foods.
Such as stir-fried bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, oranges, apples, and other fruits and vegetables.
3. Dishes high in dietary fiber.
Kelp, wood ear mushrooms, and Chinese cabbage are all high in dietary fiber. Cold-dressed kelp shreds and onion mixed with wood ear mushrooms are both liver-protecting and delicious choices.
4. Whole grains and tubers.
These foods are also rich in B vitamins, which can compensate for the loss of vitamin B1 caused by heavy drinking. Therefore, stir-fried shredded potatoes and mixed whole grains are good choices.
5. Tofu.
Methionine in tofu is an important amino acid that can detoxify acetaldehyde and help expel it from the body. Therefore, eating some tofu before or after drinking is very beneficial.
4 Foods to Avoid When Drinking:
1. Carrots
Carrots contain a large amount of carotene. When carotene mixes with alcohol, it can produce toxins in the liver, harming liver health. Therefore, carrots are not suitable as a food to go with alcohol.
2. Liangfen (cold bean jelly)
Because its processing requires adding a small amount of alum, which slows down gastrointestinal motility. Having liangfen with alcohol will prolong the time alcohol stays in the stomach and intestines, thereby increasing the body's absorption of alcohol.
3. Smoked and cured foods
They contain more nitrosamines and pigments, which react with alcohol, not only harming the liver but also damaging the oral, esophageal, and gastrointestinal mucosa, and can even induce cancer.
4. Barbecue
During the barbecue process, not only is the utilization rate of protein in the food reduced, but it also produces carcinogenic benzopyrene. When excessive drinking raises blood lead levels, these substances in barbecue food can combine with it, easily inducing digestive tract tumors.
5. Beef dishes
It is not advisable to drink alcohol while eating beef. Why? Eating too much beef can lead to "heatiness" (上火), causing constipation and mouth sores. Drinking too much alcohol also leads to "heatiness". It's like consuming two foods that are very likely to cause "heatiness" together, which can easily lead to these symptoms. Therefore, beef is very unsuitable as a food to go with alcohol.