Alcohol and Digestion

[soundcheck129]

That's right, it was only a matter of time before this section was tainted by an alcohol thread.

However, I'm not interested in discussing what to drink on a cut, how much drinking will kill gains, blah blah blah.

I'm more interested in alcohol's affect on digestion. For instance, as alcohol as viewed as a toxin and eliminated by the body first, does this really effectively "halt" digestion? Does this mean that your drunk munchies of choice are destined to be stored rather than immediately used for energy?

Any credible sources and civil discussion welcomed. If I wanted mythbrology, I'd have posted this in the regular Nutrition section ;)

[Emma-Leigh]

That's right, it was only a matter of time before this section was tainted by an alcohol thread.

However, I'm not interested in discussing what to drink on a cut, how much drinking will kill gains, blah blah blah.

I'm more interested in alcohol's affect on digestion. For instance, as alcohol as viewed as a toxin and eliminated by the body first, does this really effectively "halt" digestion? Does this mean that your drunk munchies of choice are destined to be stored rather than immediately used for energy?

Any credible sources and civil discussion welcomed. If I wanted mythbrology, I'd have posted this in the regular Nutrition section ;)
Not entirely sure what you are asking...
Digestion (that is - the physical process of movement of contents through the digestive tract --> breaking down into smaller particles --> enzyme activity --> absorption into blood or lymph)
OR
Metabolism (that is the process once in 'the body' - be that in the liver or the other tissues)

Although you say digestion - Your question points more toward the 'metabolic' effects.... yes?

[soundcheck129]

Yeah, I guess I used unclear language, the metabolic effects is more of what I'm getting at. Thanks :D

[justfyi]

Acute and chronic alcohol intake imparis hepatic amino acid uptake and synthesis into proteins, reduces protein synthesis and secretion from the liver and increases catabolism in the gut (Stickel et al., 2003). Use of lipids and carbohydrates is compromised. An excess of reduction equivalents (e.g., NADPH) and impaired oxidation of triglycerides result in fat deposition in the hepatocytes and an increase in circulating triglycerides. Insulin resistance is also common among alcoholics (Mahan and Escott-Stump 715).

Mahan, L. Kathleen, and Sylvia Escott-Stump. Krause's Food & Nutrition Therapy. 12th ed. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Co., 2008.

[in10city]

Alcohol consumption does impact your intestinal flora as it can inflict mucosal damage. Given what we do know about intestinal bacteria's role in the digestion & absorption of nutrients as well as in nutrient production [some B vitamins, Vit K, various amino acids for instance], one could deduce that it can dose-duration dependantly create a sub-optimal environment.

- Szabo S, Trier JS, Brown A, Schnoor J. Early vascular injury and increased vascular permeability in gastric mucosal injury caused by ethanol in the rat. Gastroenterology 1985;88(1 Pt 2):228-36.

- Sarfeh IJ, Tarnawski A, Malki A, Mason GR, Mach T, Ivey KJ. Portal hypertension and gastric mucosal injury in rats. Effects of alcohol. Gastroenterology 1983;84(5 Pt 1):987-93.

- Masuda E, Kawano S, Nagano K, Tsuji S, Takei Y, Hayashi N, Tsujii M, O****a M, Michida T, Kobayashi I. Role of endogenous endothelin in pathogenesis of ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats. American journal of physiology 1993;265(3 Pt 1)

- Kvietys PR, Twohig B, Danzell J, Specian RD. Ethanol-induced injury to the rat gastric mucosa. Role of neutrophils and xanthine oxidase-derived radicals. Gastroenterology 1990;98(4):909-20.

- Pihan G, Regillo C, Szabo S. Free radicals and lipid peroxidation in ethanol- or aspirin-induced gastric mucosal injury. Digestive diseases and sciences 1987;32(12):1395-401.

Then backing up in the other direction, Probiotics Improve Liver Function in Heavy Drinkers (http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/hotnews/study--probiotics-improve-liver-function-in-h.html).

[Money Shot]

yes as far as i know, if youre wasted and eat, the food will be stored as fat

[in10city]

Any credible sources and civil discussion welcomed. If I wanted mythbrology, I'd have posted this in the regular Nutrition section ;)


yes as far as i know, if youre wasted and eat, the food will be stored as fat

Show me the data! ;)

[justfyi]

Then backing up in the other direction, Probiotics Improve Liver Function in Heavy Drinkers (http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/hotnews/study--probiotics-improve-liver-function-in-h.html).

have you heard about this? Now drinkers can actually feel good about binging:)

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/Study-seeks-commercialised-resveratrol-beer-breakthrough

[soundcheck129]

I appreciate the studies, but I knew that alcohol had ill effects on protein synthesis. JustFYI, is the data you've cited talking about long-term effects (the impaired oxidation, etc) or during a specific drinking "episode" (while alcohol is present in the body).

I'm actually looking for data supporting or refuting what MoneyShot so eloquently argued.

[Money Shot]

I appreciate the studies, but I knew that alcohol had ill effects on protein synthesis. JustFYI, is the data you've cited talking about long-term effects (the impaired oxidation, etc) or during a specific drinking "episode" (while alcohol is present in the body).

I'm actually looking for data supporting or refuting what MoneyShot so eloquently argued.

i dont have any data to go on, im just going on what i keep hearing people say around here. whether its true or not, i dont know but i think it is. i have had drunk muchies tons of times and couldnt control myself and felt as if i gained some fat out of it. it could be all in the mind though. im sure you can find some articles to support this

[Emma-Leigh]

Alcohol ingestion does many things but to roll off a few of the acute effects to the metabolism of energy/ nutrients:
1 - it is a 'poor energy source'. So it's 'thermogenic activity' is very low per unit ingested (it doesn't raise RMR significantly unlike other carbs)... Basically you get 'more calories' per serve (over and above the fact that being alcohol you get more than average carbs at 7 cals/ gram anyway).

2 - alcohol has a significant effect on MIS/HISS (meal induced insulin activity/Hepatic insulin sensitizing substance). Thus you get an alcohol dose dependant 'insulin resistance' (or more accurately, an absence of normal insulin sensitivity) in the skeletal muscle and you fail to 'partition' incoming nutrients into muscle...

3 - You also get an inhibition of gluconeogenesis... so your liver doesn't 'make' glucose, which can dip blood glucose and cause a hypoglycaemic effect on your hormones (stimulating the increase in things such as cortisol, glucagon and adrenaline to stimulate the release of other pre-cursors from peripheral tissue = catabolic action on muscle tissue).

4 - Alcohol induces an acute inhibition of most of your lipase activity (so you fail to process cholesterol/ fats correctly in your liver, and also get decreased activity of lipase activity in your peripheral tissue)... Basically - you don't USE fat for energy.... BUT it floats around in your blood, and deposits into tissues (mostly in liver and the metabolically active fat that gives you the 'beer gut).

Thus... Can't take up glucose into muscle cells. Can't burn fat... Can't MAKE glucose for energy. Don't use the alcohol for fuel very well.... Extra energy, fat and glucose floats around in blood --> makes fat cells (especially central fat cells) happy.... Rest of body gets 'stressed' --> increase in peripheral protein turnover to meet other energy requirements --> negative nitrogen.

+ other things...

[soundcheck129]

Very informative...as always :p

Thanks.

[justin36253]

Emma leigh what does "metabolically active fat" refer to because I don't think it exists.

[in10city]

Emma leigh what does "metabolically active fat" refer to because I don't think it exists.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is. White adipose isn't inert either - it's an active endocrine and secretory chemical messenger source - for example visceral fat secretes inflammatory adipokines.

[justin36253]

Just because adipose cells release hormones does not mean they are metabolically active though.. right? I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, just curious.

[in10city]

Just because adipose cells release hormones does not mean they are metabolically active though.. right? I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, just curious.
Depends upon what you consider "metabolically active" to mean. I would consider visceral fat to be such. And BAT is highly vascularized with mitochondria and does expend energy.

[justin36253]

Hmm. interesting information. Thanks, I guess I was just comparing it to muscle cells and how much more active they are. Good stuff

[Emma-Leigh]

Emma leigh what does "metabolically active fat" refer to because I don't think it exists.


Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is. White adipose isn't inert either - it's an active endocrine and secretory chemical messenger source - for example visceral fat secretes inflammatory adipokines.


Just because adipose cells release hormones does not mean they are metabolically active though.. right? I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, just curious.


Depends upon what you consider "metabolically active" to mean. I would consider visceral fat to be such. And BAT is highly vascularized with mitochondria and does expend energy.


Hmm. interesting information. Thanks, I guess I was just comparing it to muscle cells and how much more active they are. Good stuff

I was refering to VAT. Most people use the term 'metabolically active fat' when talking about this area - it has a different propensity to release/ store fats and is responsible for/ contributes to many of the issues seen in things such as the metabolic syndrome (eg: it is highly active in the release of FFA and contributes to the 'lipotoxicity' that helps create the insulin resistance seen as type two DM develops).

ps - just to clarify.... BAT is 'active', yes, but it is not 'metabolically active cat'..... It is active simply because it has a different way of storing and releasing energy (Uncoupling proteins = 'wasting' of energy = release of heat).... But as lovely as it sounds, with the exception of the neonate, we don't have much of it.... (if we were a rodent on the other hand..... :p ).
Also.... As mentioned --> Adipose isn't 'inert'.... It is active. An endocrinological function is only one thing it does... So regardless of what most people think - it DOES use energy:

Table 1. Contribution of organs and tissues to resting energy expenditure
and actual body weight

Organ /metabolic rate (kcal/kg/d) / % Overall REE (kg)/Weight (% ABW)
Adipose /..... ..... ..... 4.5 /..... ..... ..... 4 /..... ..... ..... 15.0 (21.4)
Other /..... ..... ..... 12 /..... ..... ..... 16 /..... ..... ..... 23.2 (33.1)
Muscle /..... ..... ..... 13 /..... ..... ..... 22 /..... ..... ..... 28.0 (40.0)
Liver /..... ..... ..... 200 /..... ..... ..... 21 /..... ..... ..... 1.8 (2.6)
Brain /..... ..... ..... 240 /..... ..... ..... 22 /..... ..... ..... 1.4 (2.0)
Heart /..... ..... ..... 400 /..... ..... ..... 9 /..... ..... ..... 0.3 (0.5)
Kidneys /..... ..... ..... 400 /..... ..... ..... 8 /..... ..... ..... 0.3 (0.5)


ABW, actual body weight; REE, resting energy expenditure.
`Other' tissue consisted of bone, skin, intestine, glands [6].

[justin36253]

Really good info, thanks

[in10city]

Semantically, I would still consider BAT to be metabolically active tissue since the uncoupling is using energy and generating heat which is transferred to the rest of the body through the blood stream [since BAT is highly vascularized]. It's not just keeping itself warm :)

Granted it's relatively metabolically quiet and has a very limited role.

[¡STFU!ˇNˆLIFT!]

2 - alcohol has a significant effect on MIS/HISS (meal induced insulin activity/Hepatic insulin sensitizing substance). Thus you get an alcohol dose dependant 'insulin resistance' (or more accurately, an absence of normal insulin sensitivity) in the skeletal muscle and you fail to 'partition' incoming nutrients into muscle...

3 - You also get an inhibition of gluconeogenesis... so your liver doesn't 'make' glucose, which can dip blood glucose and cause a hypoglycaemic effect on your hormones (stimulating the increase in things such as cortisol, glucagon and adrenaline to stimulate the release of other pre-cursors from peripheral tissue = catabolic action on muscle tissue).

4 - Alcohol induces an acute inhibition of most of your lipase activity (so you fail to process cholesterol/ fats correctly in your liver, and also get decreased activity of lipase activity in your peripheral tissue)... Basically - you don't USE fat for energy.... BUT it floats around in your blood, and deposits into tissues (mostly in liver and the metabolically active fat that gives you the 'beer gut).

Thus... Can't take up glucose into muscle cells. Can't burn fat... Can't MAKE glucose for energy. Don't use the alcohol for fuel very well.... Extra energy, fat and glucose floats around in blood --> makes fat cells (especially central fat cells) happy.... Rest of body gets 'stressed' --> increase in peripheral protein turnover to meet other energy requirements --> negative nitrogen.

+ other things...


I can verify that all of these are true .
As most of you know when following a Ketogenic diet your main source for fuel becomes fat whether dietary or if in a deficit your own ffa's ..

When drinking what would normally leave me in a completely drunken state post partying the effects are nil on Keto ..

Upon waking once functions 2 -3 Emma-leigh quoted are completed . The feel of being drunken that did not occur in full the previous night 3-4 hours after alchohol was consumed is tenfold what it would be on a normal diet .

I previously thought that it just took longer for the alcohol effect to reside in full , now looking back the feeling was almost that of near death ..


liver not processing fats as fuel , skeletal muscle ( and probably brain ) not using ketones properly , and proteins and fats not being metabolized by liver enzymes to be able to have minimum baseline levels of glucose ..

omg no wonder I would lose another 2 lbs the following day or two ..

at what cost though

[Wowzer]

Semantically, I would still consider BAT to be metabolically active tissue since the uncoupling is using energy and generating heat which is transferred to the rest of the body through the blood stream [since BAT is highly vascularized]. It's not just keeping itself warm :)

Granted it's relatively metabolically quiet and has a very limited role.

I understand rodents have large amounts of BAT, but I was under the impression that adult humans had so little BAT that it's effects on metabolism would be negligible?

Can you shed any light on that?

[justfyi]

I understand rodents have large amounts of BAT, but I was under the impression that adult humans had so little BAT that it's effects on metabolism would be negligible?

Can you shed any light on that?

You're right, BAT is seen more in animals than adults, but occurs primarily in the scapular and sub-scapular areas. Its funtion in humans remains poorly undrstood, but it is possible that BAT is a key regulator of energy expenditure. In animals it apears to be involved in heat production as a means of adapting to cold.

[BookMonkey]

So no bloody mary with my post workout meal?

But in all seriousness, what does it mean when you body does not get a hangover? And how does this situation affect digestion the following morning (pre-workout, and post-workout)? Example: Wednesday night, I had 9+ shots of tequila (top shelf stuff, if that matters). The next morning, I woke at 8am, bright eyed and ready for the day. I ate like normal with no discomfort. Does this mean my tolerance is up? And what does that mean to how my body is taking in food?

[soundcheck129]

I believe a hangover is caused primarily by dehydration and the loss of vitamins and minerals in your body due to the intake of a toxin. While your tolerance probably played a role, I'm guessing it's because you had sufficient hydration.

[SinewySam]

Acute and chronic alcohol intake imparis hepatic amino acid uptake and synthesis into proteins, reduces protein synthesis and secretion from the liver and increases catabolism in the gut (Stickel et al., 2003). Use of lipids and carbohydrates is compromised. An excess of reduction equivalents (e.g., NADPH) and impaired oxidation of triglycerides result in fat deposition in the hepatocytes and an increase in circulating triglycerides. Insulin resistance is also common among alcoholics (Mahan and Escott-Stump 715).

Mahan, L. Kathleen, and Sylvia Escott-Stump. Krause's Food & Nutrition Therapy. 12th ed. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Co., 2008.

Wow. Talk about condemnation. I knew I was right to avoid the stuff