Acetaldehyde Metabolism and the Metabolism of Alcohol

alcohol is basically a legal mood altering drug that has negative impacts and consequences long and short term despite the fact that its effects short term can be quite pleasant.

Alcohol in fact is so toxic that if abused can actually have more damaging effects on the human body and the use of heroine.  Alcohol produces pathological changes in liver tissue.

Here is an explanation of the way alcohol is metabolized

alcohol is quickly absorbed by the stomach and esophagus.  The body cannot store alcohol therefore it must be metabolized immediately.  The liver is the main key player as far as the responsibility of producing the enzymes that metabolize alcohol.

The first step in the metabolism of alcohol is the oxidation of the alcohol ( ethanol) to acetaldehyde catalyzed by alcohol/dehydrogenase containing the coenzyme NAD+. The acetaldehyde is further oxidized to acetic acid and finally CO2 and water through the citric acid cycle.  A number of metabolic effects from alcohol are directly linked to the production of an excess of both NADH and acetaldehyde.

The role acetaldehyde plays and alcohol addiction and alcoholism

deliverer converts acetaldehyde into ascetic acid.  The problem is the liver reaches a saturation point where the ascetic acid can escape into the bloodstream.  When this happens it produces  a reaction well known to 50% of the Asian population called Asian flush, Asian glow, or Asian red face.  Many people successfully treat this condition  using the No Red Face Formula.

According to the Elmhurst.edu website ‘Recent investigations have suggested that acetaldehyde may be responsible for the development of alcohol addiction. Acetaldehyde in the brain may inhibit enzymes designed to convert certain nerve transmitters from aldehydes to acids. The nerve transmitters that accumulate may then react with the acetaldehyde to form compounds which are startlingly similar to certain morphine-type compounds.’