Everyone knows of alcohol as typically something that you drink to become drunk. The actual definition of alcohol is “a compound with a carbon-oxygen bond with the oxygen also bonded to a single hydrogen; also the type of alcohol consumed.” Ethanol is the chemical term for the form of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. Proof is determined by government documentation of a distilled beverage’s alcohol content. In other words, to find out how strong an alcoholic beverage is you would take the proof of the beverage and divide it by two and that will give you the percent of alcohol liquid is in the drink.
Luckily for us, when we consume alcohol our body can metabolize it. When you drink alcohol only two to eight percent is lost through urine, sweat, or breath. The other 92-98 percent is metabolized through our body. First, all ethyl alcohol which is broken down in the human body is first converted to acetaldehyde. After, this acetaldehyde is converted into acetic acid radicals--also known as acetyl radicals. This acetic acid radical combines with Coenzyme A to form acetyl-CoA. Then acetyl-CoA then enters the Krebs Cycle, which is the basic powerhouse of the human body. Finally, inside of the Krebs Cycle this acetyl radical is eventually broken down into carbon dioxide and water. This happens in result of three different enzymes: alcohol dehydrogenase,
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It can also lead to addiction or dependency which also may make you do things you never would have even thought of doing, sometimes even to the people you love. It can also lead to major health problems as well. For instance, cirrhosis of the liver which in some cases can cause the liver to completely shut down and also dementia which is increased shrinking of the brain and results in many psychological problems. These are just two of the many health problems that you can attain from excessive
Chemistry is at the heart of all nutrition. Thus, to truly grasp alcohol, one must know the basic molecular compounds that the body consumes and divides. The most accessible energy resource the body ingests is carbohydrates (rice, beans, breads, pasta, sugar, fruit, etc…). Carbohydrates are made
Roger E. Meyer writes this article to explain the effects of alcohol and how it affects the body. Once alcohol is taken into the body it is absorbed from the stomach and the small intestine and into the bloodstream. If too much alcohol is taken in the stomach may secrete a mucous that will slow absorption. One tenth of the alcohol exits form the body as sweat or urine, as the rest is slowly broken down by the body. This article and information can be helpful to me because it will give me a background and information on alcohol and what happens when one consumes it.
It is a clear and colorless liquid with a profound odor. Ethanol is used as a beverage; whether the drink is beer, wine or hard liquor, it is a liquid drug that slows down the central nervous system just like a sedative. Ethyl alcohol is actually classified as a food because it has calories, although it does not have any nutritional value therefore the calories are measured as empty calories. Ethanol is not digested or transported to the bodies’ cells like the normal digestive process; instead it is absorbed directly into the blood stream. Alcohol travels throughout the body by diluting itself in the water already present in the organ systems. Most vital organs, such as the brain, need a large amount of water and blood to function and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of ethyl alcohol. Other than being used as a beverage, ethyl alcohol can be used to clean surfaces from micro organisms, for that reason, one can presume it is toxic to the
It is the slowest working metabolic pathway for the production of energy in the body. This cycle, unlike the energy consumption in sprinting, allows the body to maintain its energy level during endurance activities. The citric acid cycle, or the Krebs cycle, allows humans to sustain long-term energy (long running) because it produces more energy than the other pathways. The Krebs cycle uses lots of enzymes, which reduce the amount of energy required for a chemical reaction. These enzymes help the body use less and create more energy. By using enzymes in the absence of more energy, the Krebs cycle is different from other metabolic pathways. Through the catabolism of fats, sugars, and proteins, an acetate is created and used in the citric acid cycle. The Krebs cycle converts NAD+ into NADH. These are then used by another system called the oxidative phosphorylation pathway to generate
The strongest alcohol drinks are called liquors or spirits. An Arabian alchemist named Geber discovered liquor in the eighteenth century A.D. Geber made liquor by distillation, burning away the impurities that formed in wine during fermentation and isolated the remaining liquids. As a result, the concentrated liquid had a higher alcoholic content, which was ?mainly flavored alcohol and water?(Milgram 65). Arnaud de Villanueva discovered liquor in Europe 500 years later, when he made brandy. Arnaud claimed that brandy would cure all humanity?s diseases, prolong life, maintain youth, a...
Alcohol is a colorless, volatile flammable liquid that is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel. Alcohol is a drug and it is classed as a depressant, meaning that it will slow down vital functions. Alcohol is made out of a chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, they need to have the grains, fruits or vegetables go through a process called fermentation.
Alcohol is a dominant tool that controls the human’s body when it takes over its major systems. In addition, alcohol has a huge impact on people’s behaviors so that their behaviors go out of their control and could lead to things rather more serious.
Increased abuse of alcohol leads to physical damage to the body. Alcohol is absorbed directly into the brain, dulling one’s senses and weakling one's will power. According to the article from the Mayo Clinic Health Information, “Excessive use of alcohol can produce several harmful effects on your brain and nervous system. It also can severely damage your liver, pancreas and cardiovascular system. Alcohol use in pregnant women can damage the fetus” (Mayo 1). Continued ingestion of alcohol affects every organ in the body. Every organ in the body is affected. The liver has serious effects that may lead to cirrhosis and death.. At first the liver adapts and tolerates alcohol. It works harder and finally damages itself in time. Alcohol leads the liver to the inability to metabolize facts. Furthermore, it leads to increase in cholesterol and triglycerides leading to clogged arteries. Red blood cells are also affected leading the individual to become anemic.
Specific Purpose: After listening to my speech, my audience will know how alcohol was made and how it affects humans negatively and positively.
Alcohol is made through a process called fermentation (how alcohol is made). It is the process of sugar being broken down into carbon dioxide and ethanol. The main ingredient in fermentation is yeast. Yeast breaks down grains, fruits, and its main function is to get the alcohol
There are harmful methods of achieving your desires, one of them being addiction. When a desire is satisfied through an addiction, there are negative consequences to them. Through drug abuse, you sacrifice your mental state and your body in order to achieve your desires. A person who lives with an addiction and satisfies it as a means of meeting their desires is not truly living a good life. The person may sacrifice their family, work, and social aspects to meet their addiction.
middle of paper ... ... Alcohol consumption needs to be taken seriously and always in moderation. It has not only short-term effects, but long-term ones as well. Alcohol can lead to serious problems with the central nervous system, blood, muscles, the liver, and more.
The process of alcoholic fermentation begins with the use of enzymes. The enzymes begin to break down the long chains in starch molecules, a polysaccharide that consists of a large quantity of glucose molecules (C6H12O6) joined by glycosidic bonds as seen in figure 1, into single glucose molecules, a monosaccharide with six carbons and five hydroxyl groups. After the starch has become sugar, the enzymes are used once again, this time to convert the sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide, CO2, as seen in figure 2 (World of Scientific Discovery, 2007). The carbon dioxide produced is released into the atmosphere, leaving water and ethanol, the alcohol, behind. Ethanol is a colorless flammable liquid with a molecular formula of C2H6O, giving it a molar mass of 46.07 grams per mole. Ethanol is also characterized by a melting point of -114°C or 159 K.
These realization usually wear off in a matter of hours after a person stops drinking. Many law-enforcement agencies regard a .08 percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream as stamp of intoxication. Larger amounts of blood alcohol can impair brain secant and eventually cause unconsciousness. An extreme overdose, alcohol poisoning, can be calamitous. After-Care and Work Therapy.
Effects of alcohol are many and are all bad. There is not one good effect of excessive alcohol drinking, except what an alcoholic considers a good feeling after getting drunk. The alcoholics drink for many reasons, but the results are all the same. Alcohol has very bad effects on all human body organs; it causes disease and some of those diseases are dangerous and even fatal, and the most common diseases re...