The dangers of drinking alcohol at night, drinking on an empty stomach, and consuming tobacco and alcohol together.
The dangers of drinking at night
Modern medicine considers drinking at night to be harmful. Frequently drinking before bed may lead to alcoholic psychosis, neuritis, and liver disease.
Alcohol contains many harmful substances, such as methanol, fusel oils, and lead. These substances need the liver's detoxification function to be eliminated from the body. During the day, the body's metabolism is more vigorous, and alcohol toxins are relatively easy to excrete (e.g., through sweat and urine). However, after drinking alcohol at night and falling asleep, the metabolic process slows down, and the liver's detoxification function weakens accordingly. Harmful substances tend to accumulate, which is extremely detrimental to health.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the body's physiological rhythms must align with the changes in Yin and Yang throughout the day to prevent illness. Daytime belongs to Yang, and nighttime belongs to Yin, while alcohol is Yang in nature and warm in nature. Nighttime is a time of stillness, and when a person falls asleep, stillness is paramount, both externally and internally. Drinking alcohol at night inevitably disturbs Yang, and when Yang is disturbed, Yin is also disturbed, leading to disordered Qi and blood, and an imbalance of Yin and Yang in the five internal organs. Drinking alcohol before bed can also easily cause stomach upset, which in turn leads to restlessness at night. This not only affects the digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract but also inevitably affects sleep quality, resulting in poor rest, lethargy, and, over time, numerous health problems.
Therefore, you should not drink excessively at the dinner table before going to bed at night, otherwise it will harm your health.
Dangers of drinking on an empty stomach
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach is extremely harmful to the body. After alcohol enters the body, 80% is absorbed by the duodenum and jejunum, and 20% by the stomach. The absorption rate can reach over 90% after 1.5 hours. Alcohol can be absorbed into the bloodstream within 5 minutes of drinking. Drinking on an empty stomach results in even faster alcohol absorption.
When the blood alcohol content is between 200 and 400 milligrams per 100 milliliters, the body will produce obvious symptoms of poisoning; when the blood alcohol content is between 400 and 500 milligrams per 100 milliliters, it will cause deep anesthesia of the brain and may even lead to death.
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach can lead to ulcers if there is no food in the stomach over a long period. Therefore, it is best to eat something before drinking alcohol, such as milk or fatty foods, or eat and drink slowly at the same time.
The dangers of drinking and smoking
Drinking and smoking are common habits in daily life and social interactions. As the saying goes, "Smoking and drinking go hand in hand." This may be due to the physiological and psychological dependence caused by the simultaneous effects of nicotine and alcohol.
When a smoker drinks alcohol, their liver is working at full capacity, breaking down 95% of the alcohol into other chemicals. While the liver is focused on detoxification, it cannot effectively remove harmful substances from tobacco.
Furthermore, long-term smoking significantly reduces the body's vitamin C levels. Since alcohol is primarily metabolized by enzymes in the liver, smokers often lack sufficient vitamin C, gradually weakening the liver's detoxification function. Smoking while drinking further exacerbates intoxication due to the reduced vitamin C content, severely damaging health. The combination of nicotine and alcohol, these two narcotic substances, has a strong synergistic carcinogenic effect. Whether through active or passive smoking, the carcinogenic risk from heavy smoking and excessive alcohol consumption is several times higher than the carcinogenic risk of either substance alone.