Have you ever wondered why a night out can lead to a burning sensation in your chest or a sudden change in your poo? Or perhaps you’re trying to calculate units whilst wondering how alcohol actually affects your insides. You’re not alone.
We’ve all got guts. Around 25ft of them, in fact. That’s a lot to get your head around.
In this post, we’re getting to grips with alcohol and the digestive system. From what happens when you take a sip to how alcohol interacts with the organs in your digestive system, we’ll be looking at how you can find a balance with alcohol that keeps your gut happy.
Please note that this is general information on alcohol and the digestive system. The information may not be appropriate for someone diagnosed with a specific digestive condition. Where there is information on digestive symptoms, more details can be found in our online symptoms information.
The moment you swallow a drink of alcohol, it starts its journey through your digestive system. Unlike food, which takes time to break down, alcohol is absorbed quickly.
If you drink faster than your liver can work, the excess alcohol continues to circulate in your blood, affecting your brain and other organs. This is why you still feel the effects long after you’ve stopped drinking an alcoholic drink.
Because alcohol travels through your entire digestive system, it can cause irritation and damage from top to bottom. Here is how it can affect each section:
In the larynx, a part of the throat, long-term alcohol use carries a cancer risk, particularly in those who smoke cigarettes. Alcohol can also be a factor in other types of head and neck cancers, including mouth cancer.
Alcohol can be a major trigger for heartburn and reflux. It relaxes the ring of muscle at the bottom of the oesophagus (known as the sphincter), allowing stomach acid to creep back up. It can also irritate the lining of the oesophagus, leading to inflammation known as oesophagitis. In severe cases, this can cause painful ulcers.
Alcohol can speed up the time it takes to pass food through the digestive system, which is why many people experience diarrhoea after drinking. It can also affect how the stomach empties and alter the amount of stomach acid that is produced. Also, alcohol increases the long-term risk of stomach cancer.
In the first part of the small bowel, alcohol can cause inflammation (duodenitis) and ulcers. It can also increase the risk of developing bowel cancer. This is because the bacteria in the bowel change the alcohol into other substances.
The liver performs over 500 functions. Because it is the primary site for alcohol processing, it is often the first organ to suffer. Alcohol is the leading cause of death from liver disease in the UK. The “silent” nature of liver disease is what makes it so dangerous, as early scarring often has no symptoms. It is only when the liver stops functioning properly that symptoms such as jaundice (yellowing of the eyes), ascites (abdominal swelling) or confusion appear. Often, these symptoms can be managed in hospital. Excessive alcohol intake can also be a factor that increases the risk of liver cancer.
The pancreas produces enzymes that help us digest food. Heavy drinking is the second most common cause of acute and chronic pancreatitis, though there are other causes you have no control over. The more you drink, the higher the risk. The risk of pancreatic cancer can also increase with excessive alcohol intake.
Whilst we focus on the digestive system at Guts UK, alcohol’s reach is much wider. It can impact:
Drinking alcohol is a common part of social life in the UK, with roughly half of the population having had an alcoholic drink in the last week. However, understanding how much you are actually drinking can be tricky.
In the UK, alcohol is measured in units. One unit is 10ml (or 8g) of pure alcohol. To keep health risks at a low level, the UK Chief Medical Officers advise:
To put that into perspective, 14 units is roughly equivalent to six pints of beer or seven glasses of wine. You can calculate how many units you are drinking by using Alcohol Change UK’s online unit calculator. However, it’s important to remember that there is no perfectly safe level of drinking. Even within these guidelines, individual risks can vary.
We often focus on the units, but not so much on the energy alcohol provides. Alcohol contains roughly 7 calories per gram, and because it offers no nutritional value, these are known as “empty calories”.
For those of us trying to maintain a healthy weight for our gut health, these liquid calories can add up surprisingly quickly.
Reducing your alcohol intake is a vital step in looking after your health and also allowing your body to heal. While conditions like alcoholic hepatitis and early liver damage are often reversible, continuing to drink alcohol can lead to permanent harm. Ways to reduce your alcohol intake include:
You should seek medical advice if you experience:
For more information, you can visit our detailed information on alcohol and the digestive system or call our Helpline. There are also useful resources such as Drinkaware and Alcohol Change UK.
At Guts UK, we believe that knowledge is power.
You can catch up on our ‘Get to Grips with the Digestive System’ series by using the links below:
We have information about the digestive system and over 40 digestive conditions and symptoms, which can be found here. You can also follow us on social media by searching ‘gutscharityuk’ to learn more, keep up to date with the work we do and take part in vital awareness campaigns to help us spread the word that our guts deserve better. It’s time for the UK to get to grips with guts!
Guts UK is the national charity for the digestive system. We are the only UK charity funding research into the whole digestive system.
People are suffering. People are dying. All because of a lack of knowledge about our guts. Guts UK exists to change that.
You can find out more about what we do here.
Have you ever wondered why a simple change in diet is so often recommended for a healthier life? Or perhaps you’re curious about how the food on your plate actually interacts with the trillions of...
This Coeliac Disease Awareness Month, Grace shares her experiences. We’re shining a light on what it’s like to live with coeliac disease. For Grace, her diagnosis came at 18, just as she was starting university.
By submitting this form, you are consenting to Guts UK contacting you by email as detailed above. To make any changes to your preferences you can email us on info@gutscharity.org.uk or by calling us on 020 7486 0341. Your details are safe with us. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details.
