Qingming Holiday Gatherings: What Not to Pair with Alcohol
Core Tip: The Qingming Festival is also a time for gatherings, making it hard to resist a few drinks. When preparing food to pair with alcohol, consider these adjustments: add some sugar to your dishes, prepare some protein-rich options, and have some alkaline foods on hand.
1. Add some sugar to your dishes. The main component of alcohol is ethanol, which is processed by the liver before it can be expelled from the body, thus increasing the liver's burden. Therefore, when preparing food to pair with alcohol, you should choose some liver-protective foods. Sugar has a protective effect on the liver, so it's best to include one or two sweet dishes, such as sweet and sour fish, candied lotus root slices, or sugared fried peanuts.
2. Prepare some protein-rich dishes. Alcohol affects the body's metabolism, which can easily lead to a protein deficiency. Therefore, food to pair with alcohol should include protein-rich options, such as century eggs, home-style tofu, steamed chicken, or braised pork ribs.
3. Have some alkaline foods. Poultry and meat are mostly acidic foods. To maintain the body's acid-base balance, food to pair with alcohol should include alkaline options, such as stir-fried bean sprouts, spinach, and fruits like apples and oranges.
The following are common dishes that are not suitable to pair with alcohol:
1. Carrots
Because the carotene in carrots, under the action of liver enzymes with alcohol, can produce toxic substances that are harmful to health.
2. Liangfen (cold jelly)
Because its processing requires adding a small amount of alum, which slows down gastrointestinal motility. Pairing liangfen with alcohol prolongs the time alcohol stays in the gastrointestinal tract, increasing the body's absorption of alcohol and the stimulation to the gastrointestinal tract. It also slows blood flow and extends the time alcohol stays in the blood, leading to intoxication and harming health.
3. Smoked and cured foods
Because they contain a higher amount of nitrosamines and pigments, which react with alcohol, not only damaging the liver but also harming the oral, esophageal, and gastrointestinal mucosa, and can also induce cancer.
4. Barbecue
In the summer, many people enjoy gathering with friends and family at food stalls, drinking and eating grilled skewers, which is a joyful time. However, pairing barbecue with alcohol is unhealthy for you. During the grilling process, not only is the utilization rate of protein in the food reduced, but it also produces carcinogens like benzopyrene. Furthermore, nucleic acids in meat, when heated and broken down, can produce substances that cause genetic 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 digestive tract tumors. In addition, because alcohol consumption is higher in the summer, the likelihood of inducing such diseases is often greater.
First, alcohol is an organic solvent that can dilate blood vessels in the digestive tract and dissolve the mucus protein on the surface of the digestive tract mucosa, making it easier for carcinogens to be absorbed by the body.
Second, alcohol can reduce the liver's detoxification function, promoting the effect of carcinogens.
In addition, alcohol can also suppress the body's immune function and enhance the activation of carcinogens. Therefore, it is best to drink in moderation.
The carcinogenicity of barbecue food is related to the amount consumed. It is recommended to have it no more than twice a week, and no more than 100 grams each time.