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.