"Blushing after drinking" or "whitening after drinking", which one is better? Finally there is an answer

Expert of this article: Zhao Weitong, Master of Medicine from Zunyi Medical University, currently a physician at the Affiliated Hospital of the NCO School of the Army Medical University (formerly the 260th Hospital)

This article was reviewed by Dr. Tao Ning, Associate Professor, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

It’s hot in the summer, and many people like to have a bottle of cool beer when they have a meal together. It’s so refreshing!

After three or four cups of wine, I found that some people at the table had red faces, while others' faces became paler as they drank more. They all staggered and shouted that they were the ones who could drink the most!

Is it better for people whose faces turn pale when they drink? Or is it better for people whose faces turn red when they drink? When you are drunk, how does your body “sober up”?

Put down the wine glass in your hand first, and you will understand everything after reading this article!

How does the body “detoxify”?

When a person takes the first sip of wine, the alcohol goes from the mouth through the esophagus and first reaches the stomach. A portion of the alcohol is quickly absorbed by the gastric mucosa, and then a large portion is absorbed by the duodenal and jejunal mucosa.

The gastrointestinal tract absorbs about 90% of alcohol, and the remaining 10% remains in the intestine and is excreted in the feces.

Alcohol absorbed into the blood can reach every corner through blood circulation:

Reaching the cerebellum causes uncoordinated body movements;

Reaching the brain causes neural inhibition;

It reaches the lungs and is exhaled through diffusion, which is what we smell as alcohol.

Ultimately, all of this alcohol passes through the liver and is "eliminated" by the liver:

Alcohol is the common name for ethanol solution. It is ethanol (CH3CH2OH) that actually plays the above role. Liver cells contain alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. The former can oxidize ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is then catalyzed by the latter to acetic acid. Acetic acid passes through the citric acid cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle) and finally generates carbon dioxide and water.

Drinking makes your face turn red vs. drinking makes your face turn pale, who can drink more?

Some people say, "My face turns red when I drink, I can drink a lot!"

Of course not!

The reason why you blush when you drink alcohol is that your body lacks the most active enzyme, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase-2.

If the liver cells lack this enzyme, acetaldehyde cannot be catalyzed, and a large amount of acetaldehyde enters the blood, causing capillary dilation, and symptoms such as blushing, rapid heartbeat, and nausea. About half of the yellow race lacks this acetaldehyde dehydrogenase-2, so most people tend to blush when drinking, which is a sign that they cannot drink.

People with pale faces after drinking alcohol may be more dangerous:

A large amount of alcohol enters the blood, stimulating the sympathetic nerves to release neurotransmitters such as catecholamines, causing a large number of blood vessels in the skin to contract, resulting in a pale face.

Increased heart rate, heart complications, coronary heart disease attack, arrhythmia, etc.;

If the outside temperature is very low, the body will dissipate heat too quickly, causing hypothermia, which can even be fatal.

Is it reliable to take hangover medicine?

Alcohol detoxifying drugs cannot really help you get rid of alcohol. Some alcohol detoxifying drugs protect the gastric mucosa, while some protect the liver.

As mentioned above, the enzymes that can really sober up are alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. After taking alcohol sobering medicine, these two enzymes in the medicine enter the intestines and are broken down into amino acids by the trypsin in the intestines. They will not be directly absorbed by the body, thus losing the effect of sobering up.

Most of the hangover remedies on the market are actually health products that protect the body after drinking and reduce damage to various organs.

How can we reduce the harm caused by drinking?

Don't drink too much

Drinking too much and too fast, even though the liver's conversion speed is already very fast, the blood return speed is much faster than the liver's biological conversion speed. The unmetabolized ethanol, acetaldehyde and acetic acid will diffuse from the liver into the systemic blood circulation, thereby affecting the body's various functions.

Always eat something before drinking

When a large amount of alcohol enters the body, it will cause various reactions in the body. The higher the alcohol concentration, the greater the reaction. Having food in the stomach can delay the absorption of alcohol and reduce the alcohol concentration.

Soluble carbohydrates can delay the absorption of alcohol better than protein and fat, so you can drink some sugar water or eat some steamed buns, rice, etc. before drinking.

Drinking milk can form a protective film on the surface of the gastric mucosa, reducing the irritation and damage of alcohol to the gastric mucosa.

Don't drink alcohol with carbonated drinks

Otherwise, it is easy to speed up the gastrointestinal absorption of alcohol. When drinking, you can eat more green leafy vegetables and soy products to protect your liver.

After drinking, you can drink honey water or sugar water in moderation

After drinking, the sympathetic nerve excitement will consume a large amount of blood sugar, leading to hypoglycemia after drinking.

Symptoms most likely to occur when the blood sugar level is low are dizziness, palpitations, fatigue, etc. The low blood sugar state will cause the brain to lack energy, making it easy to fall into a coma or even more dangerous situations.

The brain's energy supply basically relies on glucose, so you can drink some honey water or sugar water after drinking to replenish energy.

After getting drunk, the most important thing is to prevent accidental inhalation

Try to lie on your side. If you can't, turn your face to one side to prevent vomitus from entering the respiratory tract and causing aspiration pneumonia.

Of course, it is best to choose not to drink or drink as little as possible. Without alcohol, the source is cut off directly and there will be no harm.

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