When drinking during the New Year, don't forget to protect your liver
As the saying goes: "A thousand cups of wine are not enough when meeting an old friend." During the Spring Festival, it's inevitable for family and friends to gather and celebrate with drinks. For the sake of our health, we must be rational in our celebration, as excessive drinking can damage the liver. How can we minimize the harm of alcohol to the liver while still having fun? The following tips might be helpful.
6 Tips for Protecting Your Liver While Drinking
Alcohol is a foe to the liver. The chemical component of alcohol is ethanol, which is primarily metabolized by the liver into acetaldehyde and acetic acid. These two substances can cause excessive oxidation of liver cell membranes, disrupt the repair of liver cells, interfere with the liver's metabolism of proteins and sugars, and can lead to fat accumulation in liver cells, forming fatty liver. The higher the alcohol content and the greater the intake, the more severe the damage to the liver. If you consciously follow these 6 points when drinking, the damage to your liver might be reduced.
Tip 1
Slow down your drinking pace
The ideal pace of drinking is one that does not exceed your liver's processing capacity. The liver breaks down alcohol at a rate of about 10 milliliters per hour. The amount of pure alcohol (ethanol) in a drink can be calculated from the alcohol percentage listed on the bottle label. For example, a 250 ml drink with an alcohol content of 16% would have 250 ml × 0.16 = 40 ml of alcohol.
If a person finishes this over 4 hours, their average alcohol intake is 10 ml per hour, which matches the liver's processing speed. Drinking at a slower pace can reduce the burden on your liver.
Tip 2
Drink water to restore the body's fluid balance
Alcohol affects the balance of water inside and outside the body's cells. Normally, two-thirds of the body's water is inside the cells. However, when alcohol increases, water from inside the cells moves into the bloodstream. So, although the total body water remains the same, you may feel thirsty because the water within the cells has decreased. Regardless of the reason, adequate water intake is always a good idea. "Sobering water" has been a traditional method for relieving post-drinking discomfort for a long time. Mixing three small pinches of salt into a full glass of water and drinking it all at once can stimulate the stomach to induce vomiting.
Tip 3
Drinking sports drinks and juice is also effective
Waking up the morning after excessive drinking, your throat often feels very dry. At this time, alcohol and the harmful substance acetaldehyde remain in the body, and you should try to expel them as soon as possible. Beverages containing inorganic salts and sugars not only replenish fluids but also help eliminate alcohol from the body. Sports drinks and fruit juices are very effective for this. Sports drinks are particularly good because their composition is similar to human body fluids, making them easily absorbed by the body. They are not only effective for preventing hangovers, but drinking them while consuming alcohol can also prevent you from getting too drunk.
In addition, tea containing polyphenols and vitamin C, or honey lemonade made with lemon and honey, is also very effective for hangovers. Note that for any of these beverages, if they are too cold, the active ingredients are not easily absorbed, so they should be consumed at room temperature or warm.
Tip 4
Eat more shellfish to strengthen the liver's detoxification function
Taking clams as an example, the protein content in their nutritional composition is comparable to that of eggs. Moreover, because they contain balanced essential amino acids, they do not burden the liver and can help restore liver function. Shellfish foods are generally rich in vitamin B12, taurine, and glycogen; vitamin B12 and glycogen also play an important role in promoting liver function. The amino acid taurine, when combined with bile acids, can activate the liver's detoxification function.
Tip 5
Drink aloe vera juice to lower blood acetaldehyde concentration
The spiky green part of aloe vera and its inner gel contain polysaccharides, glycoproteins, and other substances that can lower the concentration of harmful acetaldehyde, produced after alcohol metabolism, in the blood. Therefore, drinking some aloe vera juice before drinking alcohol is very effective in preventing post-drinking headaches, nausea, and facial flushing. Additionally, the bitter component of aloe vera, aloin, has a stomachic effect and can treat nausea and vomiting caused by hangovers.
Tip 6
Eat protein-rich foods to reduce the burden on the liver
Proteins and fats stay in the stomach the longest, so foods rich in protein and fat are the most suitable as drinking snacks. To avoid consuming too much high-protein food and gaining weight, it is best to choose fish, lean meat, chicken, soy products, eggs, and cheese. Dairy products like milk and cheese, which contain high-quality protein, eggs, tofu, scallops, and soups made from these foods are beneficial to liver function and do not burden the stomach.
Some people like to eat heavily flavored foods after drinking, such as fatty ramen, which can burden the digestive system and prolong the discomfort of being drunk. Therefore, you should choose easily digestible foods that can improve liver function, such as fruits, yogurt, and eggs.
Health Link
The safety baseline for healthy drinking
How much is moderate drinking? According to calculations, the liver can metabolize about 1 gram of alcohol per kilogram of body weight per day. This means that a man weighing 60 kg should consume no more than 60 grams of alcohol per day. People with lower body weight should reduce their alcohol intake accordingly. Women have a lower tolerance for alcohol than men, so their drinking standards should also be lower. Due to individual differences, everyone's drinking standards may vary, so you should also base it on your own feelings.
Different types of alcohol can be converted: 50 grams of 60-degree liquor is equivalent to 1000 grams of beer or 250 ml of whiskey. Although red wine is healthy for you, it should not be consumed in excess; the optimal amount is 125 ml per day.
As for the time of drinking, it is safer after 2 p.m. because the concentration of enzymes that break down alcohol in the stomach is higher in the afternoon than in the morning, so drinking the same amount of alcohol causes less damage in the afternoon.