After we published and shared our previous article mentioning five foods that destroy your liver we deliberately omitted one food which causes the largest known damage to the liver. In that article the title did mention five foods but in the article there were just four. So that was a hidden contest for our readers who were quick to point us out the error. Lucky five winners will get a surprise gift. Yes there is one food item which causes most damage to the liver, that is alcohol.
Liver handles most of the alcohol processing
The reactive component of alcohol is ethanol. It enters the blood stream via the small intestine. Since ethanol is a toxin it is send to the liver for processing. Liver is the largest organ of the body and performs the crucial task of processing toxins.
Liver breaks down ethanol in a two step process. First it secretes an enzyme ADH which removes two hydrogen atoms from each alcohol molecule converting it to another reactive toxin called acetaldehyde. Then the liver secretes another enzyme ALDH which converts acetaldehyde to acetate by removing another hydrogen atom. Finally acetate is broken down into carbon dioxide and water outside the liver.
Acetaldehyde is toxic and reacts with tissues causing damage to the liver. It also damages the other organs where it is processed like brain, stomach and intestines. If acetaldehyde stays for a longer time in your blood it might affect the inner walls of the arteries causing inflammation.
Alcohol also disrupts the conversion of proteins to amino acids which is why drinkers have muscle cramps and muscle repair.
Once inside the brain it gives us the sense of euphoria and lets us drop our inhibitions. It further lowers cognitive abilities and lowers reflexes. That is why we see drinkers swaying around.
In the kidneys it affects the hormonal balance by affecting the anti diuretic hormone which causes us to urinate more leading to dehydration.
Normally ethanol stays in our system for anything from eight hours to several days. Healthy liver can process ethanol faster but as we age, this ability diminishes and hence we have more risk of tissue damage at later years or if we have chronic drinking problem.
Link to previous article.