NO NEED FOR ALL THAT MEAT

I love meat. Being a vegetarian scares me. That is how much I love meat.

One of my professors could not stress enough the fact that the human body has no way to store excess dietary proteins. In essence, the human body has no way to store the element nitrogen which is the main component of proteins. Proteins are unique because they contain nitrogen.

The human body stores excess carbohydrates as glycogen in the liver and when that store is full, it is converted to fat and stored. Fat is stored in the adipose tissue which has infinite storage. Proteins are used where there is need and the excess is excreted.

Nitrogen the main component of proteins is removed by a process called deamination and is excreted in humans as urea via urine as the main route. The remaining backbone resembles carbohydrates and has lost its function as a protein.

Proteins are used to build and repair tissue and perform other cellular functions and the excess is excreted as soon as possible.

For this reason, it is foolhardy to eat a whole kg of meat as it will all end up being wasted. A normal person requires only a few grams of meat to meet their daily requirement. As a biochemist I know this, but as a meat lover I ignore it especially around the holidays. It is time to eat meat.

FOOD SAFETY THIS FESTIVE SEASON

Self experimentation is an archaic method that the science community left. 21st Century scientist boost of no longer using such "stupid" methods; unless you are me.

I decided to eat food that had been reheated and left covered all day in the microwave.

Your asking yourself  "Why did I do it?" I don't know. It is pretty obvious the end result.

Maybe I hate seeing food going to waste so I decided to eat it. Needless to say it is the reason for this post.

I pride myself in having a strong stomach, so after 4 hours, at 1:30 AM on Sunday morning my troubles began. I did not require hospitalization but it interrupted my sweet sleep.

Never again. But I know myself. I cannot resist experiments. That same day I carried out a control and at food that was reheated properly. I was okay. My troubles were over.

Safety tips 

Reheat food only once. Once food is cooked it should be reheated only once. It doesn't matter if it is using the microwave or the stove. Only once.

Freezing and refrigeration. Low temperatures SLOW growth of microorganisms but it DOES NOT STOP growth of microorganisms. This means that as soon as you raise the temperatures the microorganisms start to grow. Also you cannot store food indefinitely in the freezer.

Heat. This is the only sure way of killing microorganisms and at the same time leaving the food palatable. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.
I am yet to see other methods such as disinfectant and UV light employed without risks involved.
To be sure that all microorganisms are killed, heat food to temp above 70 degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes, i.e. at simmering point.

Eat cold food. Before the invention of the microwave we ate cold food if you didn't have the time to use the stove. Some food lose their flavour, nutrients and texture when reheated. For example fish dishes and some vegetable  are rarely reheated to prevent them from becoming flaky and overcooked.

Danger Zone

This is where microrganism growth is favoured and food spoilage is accelerated. 

Food left covered at room temperature (20⁰C – 27⁰C) or maintained at lukewarm temperature for a long time is a hazard. Results from my self experiment show that even reheating in the microwave for long periods (more than 5 minutes) does nothing to stop the inevitable.

Lastly, during this festive season stay safe and make sure you watch what you eat. If food has a strange taste/flavour that you associate with spoiled food then leave it. It is better to stay hungry and waste food rather than make the loo your best friend: best case scenario.

Wishing you a happy festive season

The Kenyan Food Biochemist

Brian Kibue

WHO IS A BIOCHEMIST

To all those pursuing a degree in Bsc. Biochemistry 

Biochemistry is not a new field in science. In fact it has been around since the late 19th Century. Well this is not a history lesson so I will not get into the details. The field has grown into its own prominence and colour and has become intertwined with other major disciplines as evidenced by the fact that Biochemistry is an essential contributor to modern medicine.    

"Who is a Biochemist?" This is a question that is frequently posed to all biochemists. People seem not to understand the definition. I did not do biology and chemistry. No!! Its not that simple. What I did for the past 3 years in university was study the living aspect of chemistry.

A biochemist is someone who studies the chemistry of life. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical composition of the living matter and the biochemical processes that underlie life activities during growth and maintenance.

Biochemist study the basic unit of life: the cell. All the chemical processes that take place in the cell are under the domain of Biochemistry. This involves chemical energy conversions (metabolism), formation and integration of biomolecules and chemical signalling pathways.

Another aspect which evolved quite recently is the integration of molecular biology with biochemistry. Molecular biology involves the study of nucleic acid which is central to the knowledge of life. Inevitably, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology integrated and this field holds the keys to unlocking the mysteries of DNA and of life as a whole.

Kenya is developing into an industrialized nation, Industries need scientist and so Biochemist will be needed. This may happen tomorrow or in 50 years, I have no way of predicting. But one thing is for sure, there is a wide field waiting in Kenya for the biochemists to conquer.

Finally,

To the graduating class (2014) Bsc Biochemistry.

Congratulations!!

The big day is here. GRADUATION DAY.

Let us not forget the past 3 long years of hard work, stress, early mornings, late nights, fun at times, meeting new friends and so much more. We have generally grown in both stature, emotion and knowledge.

Some of us lost our afros and baggy jeans. Others became talkative even though it was during the last year. We made permanent friends who we will keep for the rest of our lives and our kids will know them as auntie and uncles. The stories are endless and am limited by my memory.

It was tough and we need to take a day off from all the worries and celebrate. On the 5th December live in the moment. Enjoy the showers of praise from family and friends. You deserve it. It is only for a day so take it easy.

For people like me, all we have known to do all our lives is to go to school, read and pass exams. Am confused by all the change that is happening around me and in my life. As it is said "change is the only constant in life." I am now willing to embrace the future no matter how uncertain it looks.

After all, we have been equipped with knowledge and surrounded with people who support us and above all our God is great. He has taken care of us before so let us continue to trust in Him.

For those who have found their footing in this mucky and turbulent world of our, you are the lucky ones. We will be with you shortly.

Above all, am hoping that EVERYONE  will find something to do that they love. It doesn't have to be Biochemistry but at least let it be legal. May you all find joy in working and making money and in changing our world for the better. Notice that I did not say Kenya but the world. Do not be limited by your environment and pursue to change the world.

One of the greatest life lessons I have learnt came from a Japanese cartoon called Hunter x Hunter episode 148. As we strive to achieve what we want, do not forget to enjoy the journey. Form relationships everywhere you go. You should enjoy the little detours to the fullest because that is where you will find the things that are more important than what you want.

Personally I want to say this to all of you. "I see something in all of you, but I don't know what it is" 

In conclusion,

LET US ALL MEET IN THE HIGHEST ECHELON OF BUSINESS, SCIENCE AND POWER!!


Regards
Brian Kibue
The Kenyan Food Biochemist.

SOY SAUCE

Soy sauce is one of the world's oldest condiment and was initially developed in China but development into the modern soy sauce that is used world wide took place in Japan. (History of Soy sauce)

As a condiment, soy sauce is a flavour enhancer and is used extensively in Asian cuisines. Its use is not limited to Asian cuisines as soy sauce has found wide use in Western cuisines and is requested in dishes like pasta, soups and stews.It is the reason that the condiment is stacked in shelves of shops all over the world.

Personally, I use it when making tomato sauce based pasta, stews such as ndengu (green grams), kidney beans, soya chunks and in meat such as fish, chicken and beef. I use dark soy sauce, it is strong so a little goes a long way.

Of importance to note is that soy sauce contains a lot of salt in form of sodium. This is because soy sauce is made from fermentation of soy beans (soya beans) and wheat in brine, and using microorganisms such as Aspergillus soyae, Lactobacillus and yeast that aid in fermentation. (Making soy sauce).

Nutritional information of the soy sauce I use

From the nutritional information obtained, 1 tbsp (15 ml) has 1301 mg of sodium in this particular product. The upper safe limit of  daily sodium intake is at less than 2300 mg. Special groups such as those with hypertension may require less sodium intake. (less than 1500 mg per day)

As a rule, when using soy sauce to enhance flavour in dishes, reduce the table salt content that one normally use by half to compensate for the excess sodium. Over salting food is a common problem when using soy sauce so watch out when using soy sauce.

Enjoy the richness that soy sauce impacts in dishes from the rich colour, flavour and aroma.

KIENYEJI CHICKEN

Kienyeji (from mwenyeji) translates to local or native. Kienyeji chicken is the local breed of chicken found in Kenya. It is also known as road runner chicken and there are various breeds of the kienyeji chicken.

 As expected this bird is very sweet but has very tough meat. The meat is so tough that the only way I would recommended cooking this bird is by boiling and nothing less. Do not roast in the oven and certainly do not grill over charcoal. I have tried both methods with disastrous results.

When boiling there is a trick to it, do not stop boiling until part of the meat has come off the bone. The drumstick is the marker I use to check if this chicken is ready. The lower end will come off the bone and the bone will be left bare as the meat peels away and shrinks. By this time the meat will be tender enough for the urban young ones.

There are two ways of achieving the perfect kienyeji chicken; if you have time then slow-cooking will do but if you are impatient then boiling under the highest heat available also works.

A common mistake is to reduce the heat and stop boiling early because of fear that the chicken will disintegrate. The kienyeji chicken is not as tender as the exotic breeds so it will not disintegrate under high heat. In fact, it remains intact and  I have managed to boil the chicken for about 2 hours. This also means that the chicken requires little supervision as boiling takes hours.

Recipe: Easy road runner

Ingredients

• 1 road runner chicken
• 2 red onions
• 1 stalk of leek
• 3 spring onions
• Black pepper and salt (seasoning)
• Chili peppers (optional) 

Method

1. Prepare the chicken, leek, red onions and spring onions by chopping and dicing.
2. In a big saucepan put the diced chicken, onions and leek. There is no need for oil/fat.
3. (Optional) Add 1 or 2 whole chili peppers depending on the heat level preference. Cut open the chili to infuse more heat.
4. Add a little cold water and boil under medium to high heat until the meat comes off the bone. Adjust the water level to obtain the preferred thickness and quantity of soup.
5. Season.
6. Serve and enjoy.

HUMANS DID NOT EVOLVE FROM MONKEYS

One of the most popular points used to discredit the theory of evolution is that humans evolved from monkeys. However, that is not true. Humans and monkeys shared a common ancestor before they diverged into their different lineages and into their present form observed in modern day.

Previously used methods of determining evolutionary relationships were based on morphology (physical), behavioral and palaeontological data but biochemical methods have gained prominence in recent times and biochemistry is being used to study evolutionary relationships.

Based on evidences from these 4 sources, it is has been shown that chimpanzees, gorillas and humans share common ancestry, and that the Asiatic apes (gibbons and orangutans) diverged much earlier from our common ancestor. The man-chimpanzee-gorilla lineage separation may have taken place at around 4-6 million years ago.

Abbreviations: CC=Common Chimpanzee; PC=Pygmy chimpanzee; 
GO=Gorilla; HO=man; OR=Orangutan; GB=Gibbon;
 OWM=Old World Monkeys

From the table above, humans are a "pure line." and so are gorillas and chimpanzees. Humans did not evolve from monkeys but humans do share a common ancestor with the monkeys i.e chimpanzees and gorillas. As a result, humans have a lot in common with chimpanzees and gorillas who are our closest relatives.

REFERENCES

Hixson, E. J., & Brown , M. W. (1986). A comparison of small ribosomal RNA genes from the mitochondrial DNA of the great apes and humans: Sequence, structure, evolution and phylogenetic implications. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 3(1), 1-18.

Zihlman, A. L., Cronin, J. E., Cramer , D. L., & Sarich, V. M. (1978). Pygmy chimpanzee as a possible prototype for the common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas. Nature, 275(5682), 744-746.

9gag.com

THE ART OF DIETING

There is a simple way of doing things. The internet would not agree. The internet prescribes a myriad of  ways towards dieting and each one of them promising the magic bullet to instant weight loss. Those with a knack for exploiting others for money always pounce on the chance to especially when weight loss is involved. It is not rare to see posters and bill boards advertising about instant weight lose by using creams and pills.

The truth always hurts. There is no such thing as instant weight loss. You have to work hard for it.

The art of dieting is simple but requires extreme discipline. Want to lose weight? It involves reduction in intake of calories and an increase in caloric expenditure. Eat less and workout some more. It is better to eat a good breakfast as the day begins and taper off the calories as the day progresses and if possible have a salad for dinner.

For instance, if you have been used to taking 4 chapatis for supper, reduce it to just 1. Cut back on the sugar. Cut back on the calories and watch out for snacks especially when you are hungry. Binge eating is your worst nightmare. The cumulative calories from a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate taken in between meals adds a lot of weight. On that note, have regular meals. Eat breakfast at 8 am, lunch at 1 pm and supper at 6 pm or 8 pm. If you have to snack then go the healthy way; have a fruit or some nuts.

Exercise is a MUST. 15 minutes of workout every day or  for 45 minutes for 3 days a week is enough to transform your body. Increased exercise also reduces your susceptibility to coronary artery disease as it increases the good cholesterol carrier called HDL (High Density Lipoprotein).

I have been dieting for the past 1 month and I have lost 6 Kgs in that month. It has not been easy since am a foodie. I love to eat and so it is a trial. I give myself 2 days break when I can indulge and enjoy all the good things. My dieting style involves reduction in calories and increase in exercise. Nothing extreme. Just a cut back on all the calories

With all that said, do not do anything extreme. There is a reason why dietitians go for 4 years in University to study about nutrition. Consult them before taking any major drastic steps. Your body requires essential nutrients and different individuals require different amounts. Get a personalized diet option from a dietitians if you want to go extreme.

FOOD IS LIFE, FOOD IS ALIVE

"Food is life, Food is alive" - The Kenyan Food Biochemist

Food is life. It is fact. All organisms need food.

Plants are able to make food by utilizing the energy from the sun. E.coli can live on glucose only. This amazing bacteria is able to meet all its energy requirements and synthesize all molecules it needs for life from glucose. Homo sapiens sapiens lack the cellular processes to synthesize all life molecules from glucose so we depend heavily on our environment for food. We must eat adequate and balanced amounts of both carbohydrates (glucose), proteins (amino acids) and vegetables (minerals and vitamins).

Food is alive. This is also a fact but it may not be obvious to everyone though.

There are two levels in which food is alive: intrinsic,  which denotes that the source is inside the food and where enzymes are involved; and extrinsic, which denotes that the source is coming from an outside factor and usually involves bacteria.

The intrinsic source of life can be seen clearly when a potato after being peeled is left out in the open. A set of enzymes called monooxygenases are able to use atmospheric oxygen  and via an oxidation reaction convert pigments in potatoes to the darker pigment melanin, the pigment that is found in the human skin. To prevent this from happening, potatoes are kept under water after being peeled to eliminate oxygen. It is a practice that has been done for so long in all kitchens.

The extrinsic source of life is easier to define. It is the reason that most households have refrigerators. The low temperatures prevent, but do not kill bacteria, thereby slowing food from going bad.
Yought is good for you because it contains live bacteria called Lactobacillus that helps to lower the population of other harmful bacteria in the gut.

In conclusion, food is important and a necessity for life.

KENYAN EPIC SANDWICH

Its good to let go and go crazy once in a while. This is what this sandwich is all about. It is pure madness and bliss. Its the Kenyan manwich!!

I know what your thinking....you want to make it. You need to make it

Its six slices of bread. Wholemeal family bread so that its healthy!? Its as pointless as diet coke but all good. Its time to build the manwich. (Note...this is a cheap sandwich and improvements can be made to it)

• At the bottom there  is a fried egg with my own twist. I fried it and sprinkled  dry oregano, dry basil, black pepper in addition to salt while cooking it. Its layered on the bottom bread and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.
• Next comes another slice of bread and on top there is beef brawn and sliced tomatoes. The alternative to the brawn would be to use pastrami (I love this meat) or polony. I hate vegetables so tomatoes is as far as I go. A lettuce can be added.
• Next slice of bread and on top we use either hot sauce, garlic tomato sauce or jam to vary the degree of sweetness. Top it off with crisps. Blue label from Nakumatt are excellent. Go for the steak flavour. (Disclaimer: Crisps contain a lot of sodium so watch your intake. Leave the crisps to reduce the sodium intake for the health conscious)
• Do the same for the other side then combine to build the Kenyan manwich. Enjoy!!

TOAST YOUR BREAD

In Kenya we don't have such a bread culture traditionally. The closest we come to traditional bread is chapati which arrived via the Indian ocean. This can be attributed to the fact that wheat, rye and other bread making cereals are exotic species in Sub-Saharan Africa. Europeans on the other hand have a deep culture when it comes to bread. Breads include croissants, brioche (French) etc.

Still in Kenya, the bread we have is mass produced loaves of bread. Depending on the region, the local names differ. In Nakuru where I grew up we had toasti. Other local breads include Elliots, Broadways, Festive bread and my all time favorite is Supa Loaf among others. Again depends on the region.

I made a grilled cheese-egg sandwich for lunch and I remembered why it's essential to toast your bread. Many a times special equipment may be an impediment to making something as easy as this. One would think that i need a high class grill or toaster to do this but not necessarily. The chapati pan works so well and I cannot imagine a Kenyan household without one (unless your a bachelor that cant cook).

Bread contains a lot of starch (carbohydrates). Starch is a complex polymer of D-glucose molecules (connected by alpha 1-4 linkage). Because of this, digestion of starch requires a lot of enzyme production which means more use of energy.

Toasting your bread reduces this long polymer into a shorter polymer called dextrin. This carbohydrate as compared to starch is easier to digest so that means that less energy is required. For this reason toast bread is good for you as compared to normal bread and if you don't like it then at least I recommended it for convalescents (individuals recovering from illness)

STICKY RICE

It wouldn't be fair not to talk about food in my blogs. It has the word food in it!!

I have made sticky rice many times. I personally love it. It is more feeling and dense but am guessing that is only psychological. Many of us are experts at making sticky rice even though we would prefer it to be grainy and separated but the outcome is usually bad. 

One easy trick on how NOT to make sticky rice is simple. Wash the rice!! Professional chefs wash rice up to 7 times. This is so as to remove the starch. Completion of removal of starch from the rice is indicated by clear running water coming from the other end of the sieve.

So NEVER wash rice 

• in stagnant water
• with hot water

In a sieve pass water through the rice until the resulting water is clear. That will ensure that all the startch is removed and the resulting rice (while keeping the ratio of water:rice at 2:1 cups) will be grainy and separated like everyone loves it. ITS THAT SIMPLE.

 

BREAKFAST

Its that time in the morning and personally I rush to the kitchen to eat something because I am hungry. Depending on your habits and work load others choose to ignore this important start for the day.

Breakfast is the first meal taken in the morning after a night of rest. The meaning of breakfast is simple. "It is breaking the fast"

Yes we all do fast. I am not referring to the religious fasting where you go for days or even months without food and water in order to seek the face of the Lord, no not that kind of fasting.From a scientific perspective, fasting occurs when we go without eating for a short period (around 8 hours to 3 days)

During this time the blood glucose level is regulated by the liver (metabolic city/hub of the body) so that it remains within acceptable range for other sugar hungry organs (such as the brain) to be keep functioning. Therefore after sleeping for the recommended 8 hours, it is important to replenish the glucose levels and have breakfast.

SLIM CHICKS WHO EAT A LOT

This is a phenomenon that simply surprises many girls who are trying to diet. There is always that one friend who eats more than you but will forever have a flat tummy. She will never go to the gym or work out and she is a couch potato in your eyes. If you decided to live her lifestyle for just one week, you will start noticing your waistline becoming bigger.

The easiest excuse is to say....

 "She is lucky that she has good METABOLISM!!" She eat like that and where does all that food go? We will never know"

Before we attribute it all to metabolism we need to know what it is. Metabolism is the sum of all the chemical reactions within a living organism (includes both the energy generating [catabolism] and biosynthetic [anabolic] reactions)

When we eat food, its broken down in the gastrointestinal tract through a process called digestion, absorbed and then used to generate energy in our cells. Our cells use chemical energy (getting a little bit into Physics)

In conclusion, an individuals metabolism may be a contributing factor to how shapely they look but its not the only determinant. Genetic disposition, age, sex, nutritional balance, hormones and a host of other factors play a role. So don't lose hope and keep running on that treadmill.

   

YOU HAVE JUNK

"Give a dog a bad name and kill it" a well known English saying. It underlines man's tendency to assuage his guilt by resorting to projection as a comforting psychological defense mechanism. (Hamza M,2000)

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) codes for proteins, proteins make who you are. In the profession, DNA (inside) is called the genotype and what is seen on the outside (made of proteins) is called the phenotype. This is a simplistic version of the central dogma of biology (DNA transcribed to RNA which is translated to proteins)

Seeing how complex the human body is, its acceptable to think that the whole of our DNA is responsible for coding and ultimately the functioning of our body and our phenotype. That isn't the case. Less than 10% of the Human DNA is functional i.e is responsible for coding and production of functional proteins. Work done at the University of Oxford gives an average of 8.2%. Here is the study.

The rest of the non coding DNA is what is called JUNK DNA. Over 90% of the human genome is composed of junk DNA. The DNA may have arised over the course of evolution. As I mentioned earlier, "Give a dog a bad name and kill it." That may have been the motivation for giving the non functional DNA "JUNK"

As of now, as the science community we don't understand the purpose of all this DNA but it's clear that we cannot live without it. After all, we use only 20% of our brain. I would like to see someone who will say that we don't need the 80% so lets remove it.

Citations

JUNK DNA article

Hamza Mustafa Njozi, Mwembechai Killings and the Political Future of Tanzania (2000), Globalink Publications, 1st Edition.

LETS VISIT OUR RELATIVES

What to do while on vacation? One of the easiest things will be to take a trip to the sandy beaches of Mombasa or other great exotic locations along the Kenyan coast. But then again you may think that its no longer that safe to be in the coast so you decide to visit your relatives. Its good to go and visit our relatives. After all they are family. They may be in the city or upcountry.

What happens when your tired of seeing them and you cannot go back to the coast region. There is a solution. You can go and visit your other close relatives.

You may have heard of them, possible seen them on television but am sure not many of us have gotten to see these relatives up close. They are great for entertainment and a a delicacy in some regions of the Congo forest. If by now you haven't the slightest idea who am talking about?!......its the Chimpanzees.

In terms of evolution, they are our closest relatives.

Let me say that I am not concerned with all the boring archaeological evidence. I don't care about dinosaurs (although am happy that they are providing us with petrol and fossil fuels) I don't care that both chimpanzees and ourselves have opposable thumbs (the chimps have opposable big toes so they are better at climbing trees than us...obviously) I don't care that birth control pills work on both of our species. We may even share certain behavioral similarities (chimps are extremely bright. The ones in the photos can by pass the electric fence by using logs of wood to open the fence)

That's all good, but the major thing that makes us our closest relatives is far inside and smaller than the eyes can see. It is our DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) We share 98% OF OUR DNA SEQUENCE SIMILARITIES with chimps. 98% of our DNA is the same as thinking that the chimp had 98% chance of becoming a human....of becoming YOU!!

So next time your on holiday, take a trip to Ol Pejata Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only place that you can see Chimps in Kenya, and take a look at these magnificent relatives of ours. You will be surprised.  

"EVEN WITH NO LIGHTS.....

....we will continue to drink" Those are the famous words of those who are going blind from the consumption of illicit brew or adulterated alcohol (To me it sounds like your alcohol was cheating on you with methanol).

Before Eldoret 'Meakins', before 'Countryman', the first incidence of illicit brew that I can recall is of 'Kumi-kumi' from Mai-Mahiu. I was still in primary school (you can estimate the generation i belong in). The main thing that i also recall is that the drinkers went blind and they told the owner that even without the lights they will continue drinking. Little did they know that they had gone blind.

How did  this happen? Its a consequence of conversion of methanol to formic acid.

Follow the blue line for methanol. Don't get lost
Image not mine it belongs here

All you need to know from here is that the cells of the optic nerves are extremely sensitive to formic acid/formate and formaldehyde (products of methanol conversion) and therefore can cause blindness. That's the end.

I have extra assignment for the biochemist. Follow the links below to get to know more about the acid-base derangement and all the stuff that is of interest in terms of symptoms and clinical correlation

References and Links

Toxicology of Methanol

Clinical correlation

Goodman and Gilman's Manual of Pharmacology and Therapeutics

KNOW YOUR POISON

Kenya is a drinking nation. We know it for a fact and some people may be in denial about it but we are a drinking nation. I am not talking about milk from K.C.C, I am talking about alcohol. Alcohol has been a part of human diet since the 14th Century when our ancestors learnt how to ferment fruits to produce alcohol. It even featured in the Bible and its here to stay.

Ethanol isn't toxic so let's get that fact straight. The products of its metabolism, acetaldehyde, on the other hand are highly toxic. So lets get to know our poison.

Alcohol (ethanol in this case) has interesting properties once we take it. Alcohol is absorbed from the stomach but majorly and rapidly in the small intestines. Peak blood levels occur about 30 mins on an empty stomach. On the other hand when gastric emptying (food being emptied from the stomach to small intestines) is slowed e.g due to presence of food in the stomach, absorption will also be delayed therefore alcohol is absorbed much later and absorption occurs much slower. Many people will have noticed that drinking after eating well will delay getting "wasted" much quicker than everyone else.

Then why are women more susceptible to alcohol than men. The secret lies with what is called first pass metabolism. Lemme explain....First pass metabolism is all the metabolism that occurs before alcohol reaches the bloodstream. Alcohol has to pass through the stomach and liver where it encounters gastric and liver alcohol dehydrogenases respectively. Alcohol that survives this process is available in the bloodstream and ready to cause all the effects that everyone loves. For women, the gastric dehydrogenases are less "active" therefore more alcohol reaches the bloodstream and women are thus more susceptible to alcohol than men.

On to excretion, alcohol is excreted by zero order kinetics. It means that alcohol is excreted immediately and excretion is independent of  its concentration (constant amount per time) Small amounts of ethanol are excreted in urine, sweat and breath (remember breathalyzer) but nearly 90% of its oxidation occurs in the liver with conversion to acetate...more for biochemist. That's why the liver suffers in alcohol poisoning and for alcohol abusers.  

So to sum it up,make sure you eat well (meat will be highly appreciated), drink lots of water with your alcohol and stay safe while under the influence.