Is there really a miracle medicine in the world that "eat 2 wines and not be afraid"? Are hangover drugs and sobering foods reliable?

For those who often go out to socialize and drink, "sobering candy, hangover medicine" is very popular in circles, and even a lifesaver to carry around. But is there really a drug in the world that "eat 2 capsules of wine without fear" and "turn wine into water in 10 minutes after drinking"? Is the hangover medicine reliable?

What does alcohol experience in the body?

After alcohol enters the digestive tract, about 10% is metabolized in the stomach, and the remaining 90% quickly enters the bloodstream. Except for a small amount that can be excreted from urine, sweat and exhalation, more than 90% of the remaining alcohol needs to be metabolized in the liver.

There are 3 main steps in the liver metabolizing alcohol:

(1) Under the action of alcohol dehydrogenase, alcohol is converted into acetaldehyde;

(2) Under the action of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, acetaldehyde is converted to acetic acid;

(3) Through the biochemical reaction of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, acetic acid is converted into carbon dioxide and water and excreted out of the body.

For us, if we don't drink too much, step (1) above can be completed quickly, and many people are actually stuck in step (2).

Because, different human bodies, the content of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is different.

People with a relative deficiency of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase cannot continue to completely convert acetaldehyde into acetic acid, and acetaldehyde will accumulate in the body.

This thing is much more toxic than alcohol, is a first-class carcinogen, can cause telangiectasia, resulting in flushing, palpitations, nausea and other discomfort.

In our Chinese, about 40%-50% of people are born with a lack of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase!

So those who "drink and blush" are not drinking a lot, on the contrary, their acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in their bodies may be relatively deficient and more likely to get drunk.

People who are relatively rich in acetaldehyde dehydrogenase can quickly metabolize acetaldehyde into non-toxic acetic acid, decompose it into carbon dioxide and excrete it from the body. This kind of talent is really "drunk" and not easy to get drunk.

But if the alcohol ingested exceeds the metabolic capacity of the liver, even if the amount of alcohol is large, the alcohol concentration in the body will rise sharply, and you will still get drunk!

How to make drunkenness come slowly

In this way, to prevent drunkenness, there are no more than the following two ways:

1. Reduce or delay the absorption of alcohol in the human body

Alcohol molecules are small, easily pass through the intestinal wall into blood vessels, are chemically stable, and are unlikely to "combine with other substances to precipitate" to reduce absorption.

"Delay absorption" can be done, such as eating some staple foods before drinking alcohol and letting alcohol stay in the stomach for a while. This is why it is often said that "it is not easy to get drunk with a cushion on the stomach". But this still treats the symptoms but not the root causes.

2. Increase the amount or activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and accelerate the process of alcohol metabolism

How much acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the human body is only related to genes, and theoretically after each person is born, the amount of enzyme in the body has been fixed. Therefore, the "amount of alcohol" is basically innate, and it is impossible to change the amount of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase by drinking a small amount every day.

So if you invent a drug that specifically supplements acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the liver, will it be able to cure alcohol?

Too naïve! The essence of enzymes is protein, which loses activity and is broken down into amino acids after entering stomach acid. Enzymes taken orally do not enter the liver at all.

But some people say that "drinking a little wine every day" may be able to partially increase the amount of alcohol.

Because long-term drinking enhances the activity of the microsomal ethanol oxidation system, another "hangover" pathway of the liver, cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 2E1, which plays a key role. This enzyme, also known as the "liver drug metabolism enzyme (liver drug enzyme)", can metabolize ethanol to acetaldehyde, similar to the alcohol dehydrogenase mentioned earlier.

However, liver enzymes still cannot convert acetaldehyde to acetic acid, so toxic acetaldehyde will continue to accumulate in the liver, and you can only wait for acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to come to clean up.

Moreover, metabolizing alcohol is not the "regular job" of liver enzymes after all, only occasionally make a cameo, and the ability to hang over alcohol is very limited. Therefore, the amount of alcohol that can be "practiced" by long-term drinking is also very limited.

In addition, the increase of liver enzymes and its metabolites will bring a lot of harm, and over time, it will cause serious damage to the liver.

So many hangover pills, are there any useful?

Since the amount of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is naturally determined, can it increase its activity to hangover? There is really such a drug, which can relatively increase the activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.

Studies have found that metadoxine is an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activator, which can antagonize the decrease in the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase caused by acute and chronic alcoholism, and accelerate the excretion of ethanol and its metabolites acetaldehyde and ketone bodies through urine.

In healthy volunteers, metadoxine shortened the half-life of ethanol metabolism from 7 hours and 15 minutes to 5 hours and 50 minutes.

But don't get too happy, this medicine can't be used casually! Metadoxine is a prescription drug that is only used for the treatment of alcoholic liver disease and needs to be purchased and used under the guidance of a doctor.

It is important to note that metadoxine may cause peripheral nerve disorders! Also, it should not be used by people with bronchial asthma and children.

So there are so many hangover pills on the market, they are not useful?

Most of the so-called "hangover drugs" claimed on the market are some plant extracts or raw materials for both medicine and food, such as turmeric, oyster extract, gardenia, goji berry, danshen, poria, barley seedlings, chitin and so on.

There are also some nutrients containing protein, vitamins, certain minerals and other nutrients, mainly imported dietary supplements, if the domestic is a regular health food, there will be a "blue hat" logo. But these are all food, not really "medicine".

There is also a category of drugs that are indeed certain chemical components such as naloxone, diuretics, etc., which are printed with the word of national medicine.

Naloxone is an antidote to an overdose of opioids (including drugs such as heroin), which can also relieve the central depression of alcohol and shorten the time of coma. To put it bluntly, it can only make you awake, but it cannot speed up the "detoxification" process of acetaldehyde. Moreover, this medicine is a prescription drug, which cannot be used casually, and may also cause mania. Emergency treatment in the hospital is usually given directly intravenous fluids rather than sublingually.

In short, no matter which of the above ingredients of the "hangover drug", there is no clear research to prove that it can increase the amount or activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, so it does not play a real hangover role!

What to do if you are already drunk?

Unfortunately, in addition to understanding alcohol and medicine, the folk "hangover food" does not help drunkenness.

The fructose in honey can slightly improve the efficiency of alcohol dehydrogenase, but it is powerless against the more toxic acetaldehyde. Coffee diuresis may aggravate dehydration symptoms and increase alcohol concentration in the body.

If drunk people can still move, it is better to drink some warm water and eat some fruit (not because of fructose, mainly to supplement sodium, potassium and magnesium ions to relieve dehydration symptoms). If the symptoms of vomiting improve, you can lie on your side to rest, but you must be accompanied by someone.

If your friend or loved one is already drunk (coma), remember to lie him on his side to prevent suffocation caused by inhalation of vomit into the airway! Then call 120 as soon as possible to get to the hospital.

Finally, the class representative gave everyone the key points:

◎ The human body's "hangover" mainly relies on acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, but the amount of enzyme is innate, and it cannot be supplemented by taking medicine. Only metadoxine increases enzyme activity, but this is a prescription drug and cannot be used casually.

◎ Most of the "hangover drugs" on the market are plant extracts or vitamins, or diuretics, awakening agents, etc., but they cannot increase the amount or activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, and cannot really hangover.

◎ If you are already drunk, honey, strong tea and coffee are not helpful for hangover, it is better to drink some warm water to replenish water and sober up naturally.

Comprehensive Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention public account report

Source: Wuhan Evening News