Health tips for scientific drinking and smoking prevention

Don't Down Your Drinks in One Boil

At gatherings with family and friends, men often face pressure to drink. So, how can you drink without harming your health? Remember, never drink in one gulp.

Of the alcohol in the body, 10% is excreted through the stomach and intestines, while 90% is metabolized in the liver. If your daily alcohol intake is less than 80 grams, you generally won't develop alcoholic liver disease. If you consume 80-100 grams of alcohol daily, the risk increases fivefold; if you consume more than 160 grams daily, the risk increases 25 times. If you drink continuously for 8 years, averaging 227 grams of alcohol per day, 33% of alcoholics will develop alcoholic hepatitis, and 14% will develop alcoholic cirrhosis.

Men often feel bloated after drinking heavily, so they don't want to eat afterward. This is very harmful. Scientific research has found that eating more food while drinking, and supplementing with sufficient carbohydrates, can reduce the occurrence of alcoholic fatty liver disease. Under normal circumstances, alcohol is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and converted into acetaldehyde in the liver by alcohol dehydrogenase. This acetaldehyde is then converted into acetic acid, which is finally broken down into carbon dioxide and water and excreted from the body. When drinking heavily, the acetaldehyde cannot be converted into acetic acid quickly enough, generating a large number of superoxide cations, leading to an imbalance in the body's oxidation and antioxidant processes. At this time, eating more vegetables and fruits to supplement with important antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and the trace element selenium can reduce the harm of alcohol to the body.

Furthermore, it is best to drink alcohol in the evening. This is because the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver follows a chronological pattern, decreasing at midday and increasing at night. Therefore, ethanol is not easily metabolized when drinking at midday, leading to faster intoxication and greater harm to the body. Additionally, it is important to note that drinking alcohol on an empty stomach in the morning can easily damage the gastric mucosa.

Smoking and Vitamins

One cigarette can destroy 25 milligrams of vitamin C. Cigarette tar contains benzo[a]pyrene, a major carcinogen, and cigarette smoke contains high concentrations of reactive oxygen species and free radicals, which can severely damage the lungs. Studies have shown that supplementing with vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene can reduce lipid peroxidation in the body and lower the incidence of lung cancer.

Researchers at the University of California recently found that when 67 non-smoking volunteers were placed in a smoky environment, those who took 500 mg of vitamin C daily experienced minimal harm. Experts explain that passive smoking causes oxidative damage, but this damage can be counteracted by the antioxidants in vitamin C. Therefore, vitamin C may help prevent damage from passive smoking, providing a self-protective method for non-smokers who are forced to be in smoky environments.

Based on this, the researchers conducted further tests. They divided the 67 volunteers into three groups and reintroduced them to a smoky environment. One group received daily doses of vitamin C, vitamin E, and the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid, while the other received a placebo. After two months, compared to the placebo group, the oxygen stress levels in the blood of the first two groups decreased by 1.4% and 12%, respectively.

Therefore, long-term smokers and those exposed to secondhand smoke should supplement their diets with vitamin C, vitamin B₂, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. Multivitamins contain vitamin A, natural beta-carotene, vitamin D, natural vitamin E, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, vitamin B₆, vitamin B₁₂, vitamin C, vitamin K, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and other vitamins, as well as abundant minerals such as magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, chromium, and selenium, which are beneficial for enhancing the body's resistance to disease and can be supplemented appropriately.