The Way Addiction To Alcohol Influences The Intake Of Important Nutrients
When an individual experiences alcohol addiction, he may have a nutritional problem because alcohol tends to decrease appetite. As most alcohol abusers consider alcohol as their meal substitute, they are likely not to obtain the vital nutrients that their body requires. This is the reason many alcoholics become malnourished.
Alcoholism can interrupt the absorption of nutrients and digestion of foods in the body. Individuals who drink alcohol moderately use alcohol in addition to their normal food intake. These people tend to have the "beer belly" or a central obesity. An excessive amount of amount of alcohol will not be metabolized which produces heat to the body. According to rehabilitation for alcohol professionals, malnutrition in heavy drinkers starts when they don't take in regular amount of foods.
Empty Calories
An individual can get about 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate and protein while they get 7 calories for every gram of alcohol. However, calories from alcohol do not contain nutrients. In general, when an individual gets more calories from alcohol he will have less amount of calories that he could spend on nutritious foods.
Metabolic Process
Drinking too much amount of alcohol will impact the metabolic process of the ingested nutrients. For example, alcoholism may not allow the liver to absorb folate that allows the kidneys to produce more of this B vitamin in the urine. This may cause the development of folate deficiency which damages a person's digestive system. Moreover, alcohol may also affect the role of folate to process homocystine which may cause the development of heart disorders because of an excess level of the substance. A person who doesn't have a good folate status and has alcohol addiction can have a colorectal cancer. Also, when a person has thiamin deficiency, he may have an impaired coordination and memory, weakened nerves as well as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which impacts the muscles of the eyes.
Toxic Effects of Alcoholism
The toxic effects of alcohol abuse can lead to malnutrition. Many alcohol rehabilitation experts say that alcohol can result in the secretion of histamine and gastric acid from the stomach cells. With an excessive amount of gastric acid, the linings of the esophagus and the stomach can be irritated and histamine can cause inflammation. The stomach irritation makes an alcoholic susceptible to ulcer formations.
Too much intake of alcohol will affect a person's nutrition as they tend to ingest more alcohol than foods. Heavy drinkers can be recognized because of their obvious weight loss and malnutrition.
About the Author
Need to know more information about alcohol rehab center in Arizona? Kindly visit essential facts about alcohol rehabilitation in Arizona
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here