Here is what happens to your liver when you drink alcohol
It is occasional or overindulgence, alcohol consumption has a great effect on the body detoxification system.
No doubt about it: we live in a culture of drinking, especially now that many of us are self-insulating or stressed. This may seem like every time you turn around, there's an opportunity to have a beer or a glass of wine. But what is this drink - or nights of drinking to your liver?
The liver, as you may have heard, is the largest internal organ of the body. His substantial territory, it performs more than 500 functions, including metabolizing of fats, carbohydrates and proteins; producing bile; and detoxify the blood. When you take a drink of alcohol (otherwise known as ethanol), it is absorbed by the stomach and small intestine, where it is spread in blood. Here's what it does for your liver.Read on and ensure your health and health of others, do not miss theseWithout signs that you have had coronavirus.
He can not detoxify your body correctly
The main job of the liver consists of filtering the toxins from the blood. When you drink alcohol, the liver recognizes it as a toxin and began working for the refuse body. This means that other harmful substances are not removed as easily.
The liver converts ethanol into a toxic substance called acetaldehyde and ultimately harmless water and carbon dioxide, which is excreted from the body. A healthy liver can metabolize one drink per hour. Having more than this and that the toxic acetaldehyde accumulates in the body, causing a hangover. Drink often and too often suffer liver damage.
It burns fat more slowly
When you drink alcohol, the liver burns acetaldehyde for the body's fuel instead of fat, as it should. Drink too often too often, and a double whammy of damage can result: acetaldehyde damages the liver and fat is stored in the liver rather than elsewhere in the body or be burned completely. This can lead to a condition called fatty liver disease.
How to prevent the condition? "Do not drink too much alcohol"said Dr. Wynne Armand, Assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "How much is too much is controversial, but it is probably best to avoid alcohol completely."
It could develop a condition called alcoholic hepatitis
The toxic acetaldehyde drinking alcohol can trigger inflammation in the liver that destroys liver cells, causing a condition called alcoholic hepatitis. This happens in some heavy drinkers and not in others; Science does not fully understand why.According to the Mayo Clinic"If you are diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis, you need to stop drinking alcohol. People who continue to drink alcohol are at high risk of severe damage to the liver and death."
This could make progress in liver failure
If alcoholic hepatitis persists, scarring develops in the liver. This scar tissue prevents the liver from functioning normally, leading to a condition called cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis is reversible; Cirrhosis is not. As cirrhosis progresses, the liver is unable to filter the blood and the body starts to fail, requiring a transplant.
You may develop liver cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, most (but not all) of those diagnosed with liver cancer have evidence of cirrhosis.
So to keep your liver healthy, how much should you drink? Experts do not say more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men under 65 years. After age 65, men should go to daily. Why? As we age, stomach and liver shrink naturally shorten the travel distance of alcohol in the stomach and reduces the liver's ability to detoxify.
Dangers of drinking and Covid-19
There are many reasons why excessive consumption is discouraged during this eracoronavirus.
- The virus can damage your liver. "Some patients hospitalized Covid-19 had increased levels of liver enzymes - such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) - which indicates that their livers are damaged at least temporarily," reports the CDC.
- Alcohol can weaken your immune system. Just when you need it its strongest.
- "Elderly and seniors of any age with serious underlying health problems, including people with liver diseases, may be higher for a serious disease of Covid-19", reports The CDC.
"If you feel preoccupied with your liver operation, talk to your doctor as soon as you can and discover what blood tests can help identify inflammation and liver dysfunction," says Jaffe. And always be honest with your doctor. how much you drink.And to cross this pandemic without catching coronavirus, do not miss this essential list: Things you should never do before your vaccine
