Alcohol metabolism: implications for nutrition and health

This chapter considers implications for nutrition and health in relation to alcohol metabolism. It shows how individuals will have a preference for consuming different types of alcoholic beverages, referencing some communities that forbid alcohol consumption on religious, cultural, or moral grounds. Acute and chronic consumption of alcohol may cause malnutrition or act as a toxin and induce pathological changes in a variety of organs and tissues. The chapter provides an overview into how alcohol damages virtually all organs in the body before detailing the principal nutritional deficiencies related to alcoholism. It looks into the causes associated with drinking in low socioeconomic status groups, and government policies to minimize alcohol consumption.