How does alcohol affect metabolism?

By: www.metabolism-metabolic-rate.com

Most people are aware about the general effect of alcohol on your body. We know that alcohol can produce bad effects on your heart, lungs, liver, brain and memory. Alcohol affects the metabolism of the body as well, and this effect leads to other complications later in your life.

When you drink alcohol, it will interfere with some of these metabolisms, producing harmful effects on your health. Alcohol mainly affects the fat metabolism of the body. Alcohol has an inhibitive effect on the amount of fat that your body can use up for energy production. American journal of clinical research has conducted a study and found that alcoholic consumption of merely 24 gm will reduce your body’s lipid oxidation or the ability to burn fat by almost 73%. It has been found that acetate, which is formed in the liver when the alcohol passes through it, is the culprit in reducing the fat metabolism. Instead of fat, the body will start using the acetate as fuel for the body functions.

Alcohol also interferes with vitamin and mineral absorption. Vitamins and minerals are necessary for the proper functioning of the metabolism. When you consume alcohol, your liver will be busy in converting the alcohol to acetate, and the absorption of vitamins and minerals are taken over by the de-toxification of the alcohol. Another affect of alcohol is that it causes excess excretion of magnesium and calcium through urine, which are much needed for the proper functioning of the body.

Another drawback of alcohol consumption is that the alcohol will compete with food to get absorbed into the blood stream, thus preventing the absorption and processing of the nutrients for the metabolic activity. If your body does not get enough nutrients, this will lead to some disorders. The strength of the muscles will be lost, and muscle building cannot be done effectively. You start to gain excess weight and body fat, as the body will be burning alcohol and not fat or carbohydrates. Excessive drinking will affect the hormone production. Testosterone production gets suppressed and increased estrogen production occurs.

As the absorption of vitamins and minerals becomes less effective, your body’s immune system weakens, diseases may attack you, and the aging process becomes more rapid.

If you are a sports person, then alcohol consumption is detrimental for you. Your performance will be affected and building muscles will be a real problem. Alcohol interacts with fat metabolism and vitamin and mineral metabolism; therefore, consumption of alcohol should be avoided. Otherwise, it will lead to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, liver damages, and other health problems.