A quick thought for anyone
who drinks alcohol.
As delicious as a mai tai is on a hot summer
day, rum, vodka or any distilled alcohol is technically a poison.
During times of war, it's even used an emergency sterilizer for surgical
tools!
A dangerous byproduct of alcohol metabolism is acetaldehyde.
If there's too much acetaldehyde in your blood stream you die -- more commonly
known as alcohol poisoning.
What does this mean to a
dieter? Each alcoholic drink causes some damage to the liver.
Fortunately, the liver can withstand a fair amount of abuse before it shuts
down it's wondrous array of metabolic functions. But years of enjoying
alcohol (or being obese) can result in a medical condition known as fatty
liver. What this means is that the liver literally becomes congested
with fat globules and can't do its job.
Your cholesterol levels will be
very high because the liver can't metabolize fat.
What does the liver do?
It has many functions including filtering everything we eat, drink or breathe.
For a dieter, it's the furnace of the body. As body fat is burned,
it's metabolized by the liver and expelled. However, for a liver
congested with fat there's no room so to speak for the liver to do this
vital work. It's pretty much as fruitless as trying to race your
car to work while stuck in a traffic jam. Nothing's happening.
If you lose weight more slowly
than you think you should and you've been a fan of alcohol for a number
of years, you owe your liver a favor. Ask your doctor for liver
function blood tests. Discuss the results and your alcohol consumption
with him. Promise yourself to start a new path to health including
losing extra body fat.
Your liver is your friend.
Give it a break.