Would You Like a Drink?

As a college student, you may hear this question more than once throughout your school career. Maybe you are the student who has chosen to say no, maybe you are the one who will eventually say yes, or maybe you are the one asking. For the latter two, I have some information for you. I am not here to talk you out of anything that you are doing, I am merely here to tell you some information that you may not know.

Let's understand a bit more about alcohol. Alcohol has the ability to enter a cell's structure and denature the protein that ends up destroying the cell. Yummy? Ethanol is the alcohol that we drink, which is less toxic than some of the other types of alcohols. When we drink alcohol, we are drinking diluted forms which decreases the amount that we take in. Because of the smaller amounts, our brain expresses an eurphoric sensation. Alcohol suppresses the inhibitory responses in our brains, giving the excitatory senses more room to shine!

Enzymes in the liver take care of 90% of the alcohol your body holds, and the remaining 10% is secreted through your breath and urine. Our bodies can only break down so much alcohol at one time. If you have taken in more than your body can break down, the extra alcohol will continue to circulate throughout the blood, brain, and organs until the enzymes in the liver can catch up.

So who should not drink alcohol? Easy...

1. Children and adolescents (It may lead to adult alcoholism and is super illegal)



2. People of any age who cannot restrict their drinking to moderate levels.



3. Women who may become pregnant or who are pregnant or breastfeeding.



4. People who plan to drive, operate machinery, or take part in other activities that require attention, skill, or coordination to remain safe.



5. People taking medications that can interact with alcohol.



6. People with medical conditions worsened by alcohol, such as liver disease.

A drink refers to "a dose of any alcoholic beverage that delivers 1/2 ounce of pure ethanol... The percentage of alcohol is stated as proof. Proof equals twice the percentage of alcohol, 100 proof alcohol has 50% alcohol." (Controversy 3 in Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies)

In Utah, the blood alcohol legal limit is set at 0.08%. Here are some blood alcohol levels and their corresponding brain responses.

• 0.05% - Judgement impaired



• 0.10% - Emotional control impaired.



• 0.15% - Muscle coordination and reflexes impaired.



• 0.20% - Vision becomes impaired



• 0.30% - Drunk, lacking control



• 0.50-0.60% - Loss of Consciousness; death

Alcohol ranks third in the country for attributing deaths in the United States each year. Not only can heavy drinking cause car accidents, homicides, and anger-related deaths, it will also have long lasting effects on your own body. Some of these effects include permanent damage to the bladder, kidneys, and pancreas. Stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, and heart disease risks all increase with large intakes of alcohol.

Some research states that one to two drinks in a day may lower the risk for heart disease in persons over 60 years old. However, anymore than that drink amount will increase that risk. As a young woman, drinking early in life can lead to increase risk of breast cancer by 10%.

The decision is yours. You can say yes to that drink, or you can say no. Just remember that your decision to say yes may not only effect you. Be responsible.

All information for this post was found in "Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies" Tenth Edition by Frances Sizer and Ellie Whitney.

-Bri