Whether it's a wedding banquet, visiting friends, or a family gathering, it's inevitable to have a few drinks. Unhealthy food to go with alcohol can only harm your body. What dishes are suitable to go with alcohol, and which ones should you absolutely avoid when drinking?
1. Carrots
Because the carotene in carrots reacts with alcohol in the liver through enzymatic action, it produces toxic substances that are harmful to health.
2. Liangfen (cold bean jelly)
Because its processing requires the addition of a small amount of alum, and alum has the effect of slowing down gastrointestinal motility. Having liangfen with alcohol will prolong the alcohol's stay in the gastrointestinal tract, thereby increasing the body's absorption of alcohol. It also increases the irritation of alcohol on the stomach and intestines, slows down blood flow, and promotes drunkenness, which is harmful to health.
3. Smoked and cured foods
Because they contain a high amount of nitrosamines and pigments, which react with alcohol. They not only harm the liver but also damage the oral, esophageal, and gastrointestinal mucous membranes, and can also induce cancer.
4. Barbecue
During the barbecue process, the utilization rate of protein in food is reduced, and carcinogenic substances like benzopyrene are produced. Furthermore, nucleic acids in meat, when decomposed by heat, can produce substances that cause gene mutations, which may also lead to cancer. When excessive drinking increases the lead content in the blood, the substances in barbecue food can combine with it, easily inducing tumors of the digestive tract.
Due to the large amount of alcohol consumed, the probability of inducing such diseases is often higher. This is because alcohol is an organic solvent that can dilate blood vessels in the digestive tract and dissolve the mucoprotein on the surface of the digestive tract mucosa, making it easier for carcinogens to be absorbed by the body. In addition, alcohol can reduce the liver's detoxification function, promote the effects of carcinogens, and inhibit the body's immune system, strengthening the activation of carcinogens.
How to make healthy food to go with alcohol:
1. It's a good idea to add some sugar to dishes served with alcohol
The main component of alcohol is ethanol. After entering the human body, it is decomposed and converted by the liver before being excreted, which adds to the burden on the liver. Therefore, when making food to go with alcohol, you should appropriately choose some liver-protecting foods. Sugar has a protective effect on the liver, so it's best to have one or two sweet dishes among the appetizers, such as sweet and sour fish, candied lotus root slices, or sweet-fried peanuts.
2. Choose dishes rich in protein
When alcohol enters the intestines, it affects the body's metabolism and can easily lead to a protein deficiency. Therefore, the food served with alcohol should contain protein-rich foods, such as century eggs, home-style tofu, clear chicken soup, or braised pork ribs.
3. Prepare some alkaline foods
Chicken, duck, fish, and meat are mostly acidic foods. To maintain the body's acid-base balance, the food served with alcohol should include alkaline foods, such as stir-fried bean sprouts, spinach, apples, and other fruits and vegetables.