I’m sure many of you have experienced the hangover the day after drinking too much alcohol.

My head hurts, my throat is dry, I have heartburn, I have no appetite, I can’t get any work done, I really hate hangovers.

The cause of these symptoms is a poisonous substance called acetaldehyde. This is a nasty substance that is produced when the body breaks down alcohol.

Please refer to the topic “Decomposition of Alcohol and Acetaldehyde” for a detailed explanation.

Now, is there any food that can promote the breakdown of this acetaldehyde?

There is such a food that is convenient for you.

It is “carbohydrates”. I will now explain why carbohydrates are useful for the breakdown of acetaldehyde.

Our body has about 6 billion cells, and all of them have tiny organelles called mitochondria. Mitochondria are responsible for producing the energy we need to live, and they perform a wide variety of other tasks.

These mitochondria also play a major role in the breakdown of alcohol.

When you drink alcohol, it is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine, enters the bloodstream, and is transported to the liver. It is then broken down by the mitochondria in the liver.

Acetaldehyde, a poisonous substance, is produced in the first stage of alcohol decomposition. This acetaldehyde is further broken down into harmless acetic acid by the mitochondria in the liver in the next step. The mitochondria need energy to perform this kind of breakdown, and that energy is produced in the TCA cycle (TCA circuit, citric acid circuit) inside the mitochondria.

The energy source for this TCA cycle is glucose, which is a sugar produced by the breakdown of carbohydrates. Therefore, if you consume carbohydrates, the energy for the mitochondria to work will be supplemented, and the metabolism of acetaldehyde will be accelerated.

I think there are many people who feel like eating ramen after drinking alcohol.

This is because when you drink too much alcohol and your mitochondria are working hard to metabolize acetaldehyde, they use glucose as an energy source for their metabolism, which causes the glucose in your blood to decrease. In other words, think of it as being in a state of hypoglycemia.

Then, you naturally feel the need for carbohydrates. Therefore, it is the natural order of things that we want to have ramen at the end of the meal.

The decomposition of acetaldehyde can be accelerated if carbohydrates are consumed together with alcohol when drinking. However, as I mentioned in the other topic, there is a disadvantage in that carbohydrates taken with alcohol tend to become fat more easily than usual, and the appetite stimulating effect of alcohol can cause you to overeat, so I think it is better for your body to drink in moderation.