The Negative Effects of Alcohol When Ill: Avoid it for Better Health

2023-06-27 14:29:00

With one exception should Alcohol should be avoided when ill
Alcohol can even have a negative effect. Disinfection only works on surfaces

Older people in particular tend to drink alcohol when they have a cold. Cold symptoms should be combated with herbal schnapps, mulled wine, grog or warm beer. But this self-imposed medicine is not doing your body any good. We get to the bottom of it all.

Can you fight viruses with drinking alcohol?

In fact it is widespread misconceptionthat alcohol can kill viruses in the body. Potable alcohol is in beverages on the one hand not concentrated enough, which means that even gargling or rinsing with spirits has no effect. On the other hand, he will Alcohol dilutes in the digestive system and broken down by metabolism before it encounters the viruses in the body. Alcohol can only kill viruses from a concentration of around 50% and a long exposure time.

This is not possible in the body, but it is on surfaces. Therefore, many disinfectants contain alcohol. The However, the concentration is between 60 and 80%, alcoholic beverages usually have between 5 and 40%. So only use the alcohol externally for surfaces or, for example, hand disinfection.

For external use, you can actually do this Potable alcohol in the form of ethanol with a concentration of 80% use, but rather on surfaces, since the hands can dry out quickly due to the high concentration. This then leads to an additional risk of injury and thus infection. In the body, alcohol has against it no effect on viral loadyou actually achieve the opposite through consumption.

Effects of alcohol on disease progression

Alcohol dehydrates the body, which puts even more strain on the already weakened immune system, especially when you have a cold or illness. Instead, you should opt for spritzers, tea or water, Moist mucous membranes can defend themselves better against viruses. Doctors even warn against consuming alcohol when ill because of the negative effects on the immune system.

And that Myth of the warmed up beer On the other hand, there could be something to it: If you heat the beer to a maximum of 40 degrees when you have a cold, you may benefit from the contents essential oils and bitter substances. The bitter substances have an antibacterial effect and at the same time promote sleep. You can take the beer in small sips with some honey. However, the alcohol also has a negative effect on warm beer, so choose a type with the lowest possible alcohol content and do not drink more than one glass.

But it’s not a panacea either. You should still get up because of the alcohol alternative means fall back on, such as tea or vitamin C. If you have a fever, you should generally avoid alcohol and a warm beer will not significantly improve the cold either. Alternatively, you can also alcohol-free beer To fall back on.

Better to avoid alcohol

If you have a cold or illness, you should generally avoid alcohol. The warming effect that alcohol initially has is also put into perspective again afterwards: the increased blood flow, which you perceive as warming, ensures that in the long term the Temperature loss through the skin even increases. After drinking alcohol you cool down more and faster. In addition, it requires a lot of energy from the body so that the alcohol can be broken down.

Above all the liver has to work hard. But it is precisely this that is essential in order to produce antibodies so that the virus cannot spread further. If the organ is currently busy breaking down alcohol, it can immune system not functioning properly and the cold even drags on. In addition, you disrupt the functioning of the immune system in the long term: The monocytes are disrupted by the consumption of alcohol and limited in their effectiveness.

They are responsible for the immune system and fight pathogens. Alcohol also restricts the production of cytokines, which act as messengers and stimulate the production of proteins that are just as important in an infection. Then stand the body no capacity availableto defend against the virus.

Conclusion

You cannot fight viruses in the body with drinking alcohol, but you can even achieve the opposite, because the cold will last longer. So use highly concentrated alcohol for disinfecting surfaces; the concentration is also usually too high for the hands.