Alcohol: A Waste Product?

by Deborah English — December 10, 2007

Ever since my Wine School Tutor told the class that alcohol is "yeast pee pee," the whole wine fermentation process took on a different hue. Now I imagine the yeast particles used to ferment the juice as tiny creatures greedily gobbling up the grape sugars, and then...well...alcohol coming out the other end. Yep, that's right; alcohol is a waste product. In other words, poison. But when you look at all of those healthy looking wine-drinking Mediterranean types, you've got to start believing that maybe a bit of poison here and there ain't so bad after-all.

So just how much is too much? The answer is in knowing what happens to the alcohol in your body, and in reading the signs. When you drink alcohol, most of it enters your stomach, and then quickly finds its way to your small intestine where it is absorbed by your bloodstream. However, when you eat and drink together, the alcohol spends longer in your stomach. This is a good thing. It means the enzyme dehydrogenase has additional time to break down more of the alcohol before it reaches your bloodstream.

Via your bloodstream, alcohol circulates throughout your body, including your brain and vital organs, until it is processed by your liver. Your liver needs water to get rid of the alcohol from your body. However, because alcohol is a diuretic, your liver must pull water from other organs--including your brain! Your liver metabolizes about 90 percent of the alcohol; the remaining 10 percent is excreted through either urine or breath. You begin to feel intoxicated when you drink too much or too quickly for your liver to break down the alcohol in time.

Okay, just one more thing: When your liver breaks down alcohol, it produces acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is another toxin that affects your liver, brain, and stomach lining. The result of an overload? Headache, nausea, vomiting, and heartburn. Good-morning hangover!

So, how can you tell that you've had enough to drink? Listen to your body. The goal is to not even begin to feel tipsy because already you are damaging yourself. And like those healthy Mediterranean's, enjoy your wine with food.