Category Archives: Alcohol

Alcohol and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Consumption of high intakes of alcohol can cause damage to the liver if consumed in high amounts over long periods of time. In addition alcohol can induce certain vitamin deficiencies, particularly thiamine, and can cause changes to cognition, motivation and … Continue reading →

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Alcohol Lowers Vitamin C Levels: An Interesting Little Study

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Ethanol (alcohol) has been shown to have beneficial health effects in humans. These health effects centre on a protective effect of ethanol on the cardiovascular system. The reason for the protective effects of ethanol are not fully understood, but it … Continue reading →

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Alcohol Alters Eicosanoid Metabolism

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Alcohol is known to have health benefits in humans. Consuming alcoholic beverages may provide some health benefits because of the phytochemicals within the drinks. These phytochemicals are derived from the fruits used to make the drinks. For example, cider contains … Continue reading →

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Does Alcohol Affect Thiamine Metabolism?

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Alcoholics have poor nutritional status. In particular alcoholics are often deficient in a number of B vitamins, including thiamine. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a cluster of neurological disorders associated with alcohol induced thiamine deficiency that includes palsies, ataxia of gait, nystagmus … Continue reading →

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The Alcohol Carbohydrate Link: Another Piece of The Puzzle

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Evidence shows that those that drink alcohol regularly have lower body weights that avoid alcohol. Indeed, smokers also have lower body weights than non-smokers and some have suggested that this might partly result from the fact that smokers are more … Continue reading →

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More on Calories From Alcohol

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Robert Barrington

Colditz1 reported an inverse association between alcohol consumption and body mass index (BMI) in women, despite an increase in energy intake due to the alcohol. In response to this study, Lands and Zakhari2 put forward a hypothesis to explain the … Continue reading →

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Folic Acid Excretion Enhanced By Alcohol

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Robert Barrington

A deficiency of the B group of vitamins is a common side effect of chronic drinking. It is known that the poor vitamin B status of alcoholics is responsible for many of the neurological difficulties experienced by this group of … Continue reading →

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Smoking and Body Weight

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Both smoking and obesity increase the risk of mortality. However, smoking is inversely related to body weight. This suggests that something about the act of smoking, or its associated behaviour may prevent weight gain. While smoking is bad for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptive Thermogenesis, Alcohol, Caffeine, Cigarettes, Energy Expenditure, Exercise, Nicotine, Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), Smoking, Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA), Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), Weight Loss | Comments Off on Smoking and Body Weight

Does Drinking Alcohol Keep You Lean?

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Robert Barrington

The perception amongst the general public and even amongst health professionals is that drinking alcohol is bad for the health and can make you fat. The problem with this viewpoint is that it is simply not true. Many studies have … Continue reading →

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Carnitine Deficiency, Fatty Liver and Weight Loss

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Robert Barrington

Many people are aware of the damage that long-term ethanol (alcohol) consumption can have on the liver. The reason that ethanol can damage liver tissue is because the metabolism of ethanol can cause the deposition of lipids, mainly triglycerides, in … Continue reading →

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