what nutrients are affected by alcohol intake? course hero

When large amounts of alcohol are consumed, the body senses that its caloric needs have been met. This produces a decreased demand for other foods. Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram. However, these calories do not provide any of the carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins or minerals needed to maintain body functions.

Full Answer

What nutrients are depleted when you drink alcohol?

Alcohol in large quantities depletes the body of both macronutrients, such as protein, carbohydrate and fat, and micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. Vitamin B deficiencies often occur in heavy drinkers and alcoholics because the liver uses these vitamins up to metabolize alcohol, according to the MSU Extension.

Does alcohol influence preference for certain types of nutrients?

The use of alcohol by participants in the study encouraged the consumption of protein, but not carbohydrates, suggesting that alcohol may modify preference for some types of nutrients. Daily food intake was significantly greater for the heavier drinkers.

How does alcohol affect absorption of vitamins and minerals?

But heavy alcohol consumption over a period of time can not only deplete essential vitamins and minerals but also affect absorption of protein, fats and carbohydrates. Alcoholic malnutrition can lead to a number of potentially life-threatening complications.

What are the effects of vitamin deficiencies in alcoholics?

Vitamin B deficiencies often occur in heavy drinkers and alcoholics because the liver uses these vitamins up to metabolize alcohol, according to the MSU Extension. The Recovery Corps website reviews the effects of vitamin deficiencies in alcoholics.

What nutrients are affected by alcohol?

Because alcohol causes damage to the organs involved in digesting, absorbing and processing nutrients, it can lead to nutrient deficiencies in those who drink at high-risk levels. The key nutrients affected include thiamin, folate, B12, vitamin A, magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc and folic acid.

What nutrients do you need after drinking?

Vitamins B-1, B-3 and B-6, or thiamine, niacin and pyridoxine, are directly or indirectly involved in alcohol metabolism, and they are among the first nutrients to be depleted by excessive alcohol consumption.

In which way can drinking alcohol affect nutrition quizlet?

Food in the stomach slows the absorption of alcohol. Alcohol inhibits the release of antidiuretic hormone, which can lead to dehydration. Most alcohol is metabolized in the small intestine.

Does alcohol affect protein absorption?

Studies show excessive drinking can prevent the body from absorbing adequate protein and other nutrients.

How does alcohol affect the body?

Alcohol contributes to malnutrition by replacing foods needed for essential nutrients and by interfering with absorption, storage or metabolism of the essential nutrients. There are many other health dangers associated with chronic or long-term drinking.

What is the most serious effect of alcohol?

The most serious effect is Korsakoff's syndrome, characterized in part by an inability to remember recent events or to learn new information. This is often caused by a specific nutritional deficiency of thiamine (Vitamin B1) that can accompany severe alcohol use disorders.

How does alcohol affect your mental health?

It is one of the most popular psychoactive substances in the world. It can affect both your mental state and mood. It influences consciousness , impairs judgment , and lowers inhibitions.

How many calories are in a gram of alcohol?

Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram. However, these calories do not provide any of the carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins or minerals needed to maintain body functions. Alcohol's toxic effect on the gastrointestinal tract also promotes poor nutrition. Alcohol irritates the gut wall, leading to inflammation and ulceration.

Can you drink alcohol with a meal?

Weight Changes. The question of drinking a small amount of alcohol along with a meal is not an option for people with an alcohol use disorder. Alcoholics do not stop at just one or two drinks. One or two are never "enough.".

Does alcohol reduce calories?

Alcohol is high in empty calories, so cutting back on beverages including beer, wine, and cocktails may help reduce your overall calorie intake. An occasional drink or two is fine, but heavy drinking comes with numerous health risks. Limiting your alcohol intake to a light or moderate amount may help lower your risk for certain health conditions ...

Is alcohol a food?

Alcohol Is Easily Abused. Unfortunately, alcoholic beverages are "foods" with great potential for abuse. They trigger cravings and compulsive eating and drinking as other foods do, but the health and social consequences are more drastic.

What is the purpose of nutrition in alcohol?

Alcohol and Nutrition. Nutrition is a process that serves two purposes: to provide energy and to maintain body structure and function . Food supplies energy and provides the building blocks needed to replace worn or damaged cells and the nutritional components needed for body function. Alcoholics often eat poorly, ...

How to determine nutritional status of an alcoholic?

Techniques for assessing nutritional status include taking body measurements such as weight, height, mass, and skin fold thickness to estimate fat reserves, and performing blood analysis to provide measurements of circulating proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

What does decreased liver stores of vitamins A and A mean?

Decreased liver stores of vitamins such as vitamin A (5), and increased excretion of nutrients such as fat, indicate impaired utilization of nutrients by alcoholics (3).

What vitamins are deficient in alcohol?

Vitamin A deficiency can be associated with night blindness, and vitamin D deficiency is associated with softening of the bones (6). Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins, also deficient in some alcoholics, are all involved in wound healing and cell maintenance (14).

What happens when there is no food to supply energy?

When there is no food to supply energy, stored sugar is depleted, and the products of alcohol metabolism inhibit the formation of glucose from other compounds such as amino acids (7). As a result, alcohol causes the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of glucose needed for energy and function. Although alcohol is an energy source, how the ...

Does folate affect absorption?

In addition, nutritional deficiencies themselves may lead to further absorption problems. For example, folate deficiency alters the cells lining the small intestine, which in turn impairs absorption of water and nutrients including glucose, sodium, and additional folate (3).

Does alcohol cause liver damage?

Although alcoholic liver damage is caused primarily by alcohol itself, poor nutrition may increase the risk of alcohol-related liver damage. For example, nutrients normally found in the liver, such as carotenoids, which are the major sources of vitamin A, and vitamin E compounds, are known to be affected by alcohol consumption (18,19). Decreases in such nutrients may play some role in alcohol-related liver damage.

How does alcohol affect the body?

High alcohol intake damages the cells of the stomach, increasing acid production and decreasing the stomach's ability to absorb nutrients. When the liver must metabolize alcohol, it uses up stores of essential vitamins, causing malnutrition.

Why do alcoholics have vitamin B?

Vitamin B deficiencies often occur in heavy drinkers and alcoholics because the liver uses these vitamins up to metabolize alcohol, according to the MSU Extension. The Recovery Corps website reviews the effects of vitamin deficiencies in alcoholics. Vitamin B deficiencies cause nerve damage as well as brain damage.

What supplements can you take to help with alcoholism?

If you're a heavy drinker, you can improve your health both by cutting back and by taking certain nutritional supplements, including vitamin C and B-complex vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid and pyridoxine, the NIAAA explains. Talk to your doctor before stopping drinking if you've been a very heavy drinker and discuss nutritional therapies with him.

What are the effects of vitamin B deficiency?

Vitamin B deficiencies cause nerve damage as well as brain damage. Fat-soluble vitamin levels fall because the body can't absorb them without adequate dietary fat. Vitamin D deficiency leads to bone loss, and vitamin A deficiency can affect vision.

What is the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism?

National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol and Nutrition. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Alcohol and Public Health. Michigan State University: Alcohol Can Lead to Malnutrition. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol: A Women's Health Issue.

How many ounces of wine is considered one drink?

A 12-ounce glass of beer, 5-ounce glass of wine or 1.5-ounce shot of distilled spirits -- which includes gin, rum, vodka or whiskey -- counts as one drink, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Can you substitute alcohol for food?

Some alcoholics also substitute alcohol for food, taking in as much as 50 percent of their daily calories in the form of alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

How does alcohol affect the body?

Alcohol can affect proper body functioning by causing nutrient deficiencies and by disrupting the "machinery" the body uses to metabolize nutrients.

What are the minerals in alcohol?

Alcoholics have been found to have deficiencies in calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. Research shows that drinking alcohol itself does not limit the absorption of minerals, but alcohol-related problems do. Mineral deficiencies may be caused by other alcohol-related conditions: 1 Decreased calcium absorption caused by fat malabsorption. 2 Magnesium deficiency due to poor diet. 3 Magnesium loss due to excretion, vomiting, and diarrhea. 4 Iron deficiency due to gastrointestinal bleeding. 5 Zinc losses related to other nutrient deficiencies.

What happens if you substitute alcohol for carbs?

If alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, the person will lose weight instead of gain weight. This means they are getting less energy from alcohol calories than from food calories.

Why do we need vitamins?

Vitamins help regulate many physiological processes in the body essential to maintaining growth and normal metabolism. By impairing absorption, metabolism, and utilization of vitamins, chronic heavy drinking can cause vitamin deficiencies. 6 .

What are the effects of thiamine deficiency?

Thiamine deficiency in particular, which is frequently seen in people with severe alcohol use disorders, can cause serious neurological problems, impaired movement, and memory loss. 6 

How does the digestive system work?

The digestive system is supposed to work this way: The body begins to breakdown food into usable molecules in the mouth and continues the process in the stomach and intestines, with help from the pancreas.

Does alcohol cause night blindness?

Alcohol consumption can cause deficiencies in vitamin A, C, D, E, K, and B vitamins. These deficiencies can cause night blindness, softening of the bones, slow healing of wounds, decreased the ability of the blood to clot and, in the brain, severe neurological damage. 7 .

What is the source of alcohol?

Various sources of sugar are used in these processes, resulting in different forms of alcohol. The sugar from crushed grapes is used to make wine; malted barley is used to make beer; sugar cane or molasses makes rum; grain, potatoes, beets, molasses, and a variety of other plants are used to make vodka.

What are the essential nutrients in the body?

The essential nutrients that your body needs are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water . The term "essential" means that if you remove one of these nutrients from your diet, there will be a deficiency that causes health problems.

What causes thiamine deficiency?

An unbalanced diet and alcohol's impact on absorption, storage, activation, and excretion of thiamine are thought to be the reasons this occurs. Beriberi is a disease caused by vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency. The two major types of beriberi are wet and dry beriberi.

Why are calories considered empty calories?

The calories come from the alcohol and sugar and are considered "empty calories" because of the lack of the other essential nutrients. It's something that you may choose to add to your diet, but it's not something that you need in it. Alcohol is actually classified as a drug and is a known depressant.

How long does it take for a blood alcohol level to rise?

When you drink alcohol, your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) will rise rapidly. Within about 10 minutes of having a drink, there's enough alcohol in your blood to measure. The BAC is determined by how quickly alcohol is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted. The following 6 factors can influence the BAC:

How much alcohol is in a shot of beer?

Generally, a 12-ounce glass of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, and a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor all contain a ½ ounce of pure alcohol and are considered one drink. An infographic chart shows the factors that can influence blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels. There are 6 factors that can influence the BAC.

How many proofs of alcohol are in a 12% bottle?

The proof of a beverage is twice the alcohol content, so a drink with 12% alcohol per volume is 24 proof.