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Is alcohol a drug?

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oliphill

oliphill

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Hi,

I am having a debate on a recovery forum and I have always understood that alcohol is a drug.

This guy is saying, however, that is not a drug. That it is a food and that is metabolised by the body as a food, not as a drug like coke, heroin, etc.

I wouldn't mind coming back at him with some well backed up statement that alcohol is a drug if you guys could help me out. But if I am wrong I would prefer to hear it from you guys as I know you know what your talking about!

Cheers, Oli
 
It's a drug..

We don't need alcohol to live. It alters normal bodily function. It alters normal brain functions. It exhibits narcotic affects.


A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.
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http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=define:drug&btnG=Search&meta=


Any class of substances or drugs, that reduces pain, induces sleep and may alter mood or behaviour; Any type of numbing drug; Certain illegal drugs; Of, or relating to narcotics; Inducing sleep; causing narcosis
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http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=define:narcotic&btnG=Search&meta=

Although the below link also says (from wiki) that narcotic is strictly morphine type drugs.. this true?

Alcohol is still a drug.
 
this topic is sorta basic

"drug" and "food" are just words; they are not especially meaningful here. In general, language should represent reality, not visa-versa.

alcohol = ethanol. Ethanol is a molecule that functions as a messenger between neurons. Many of these neurons are in the brain. Therefore, the presence of alcohol in the blood alters brain function. Therefore, alcohol is a psychotropic drug.

Whether or not alcohol is also a food is a slightly more interesting topic. No reason it has to be either-or. Many things function as foods and drugs simultaneously. Methionine for instance is used as building material for tissue, while the methionine molecule is used directly to remove waste.
 
Is he an alcaholic by any chance? Sounds like he's trying to validate dependence or somthing. Its pretty common sense that alcahol is a drug.
 
There is absolutely no difference between alcohol and any other drug (except perhaps that alcohol is legal and more harmful than most).
Cannabis can be eaten and metabolised as food, as can magic mushrooms, as can coffee beans.
Rubbing alcohol can be metabolised to give energy, does that make it a food?
Faecal matter can be eaten to give energy, does that make it a food?

There are many definitions of exactly what makes something a drug, but I can think of none which exclude alcohol.
Alcohol is definitely both, but people do not use it for it's nutritional values (any more), they seek the recreational psychoactive effect. Most people drink well past the limits of beneficial use, causing themselves harm.
 
Alcohol (ethanol) is also a surface antiseptic and an industrial solvent.
 
As 235360287471352662 mentions (btw, what's up with name, guy?! ;-), it does strongly affect brain function, and it is not produced endogenously, so it must be considered a drug in that respect.

Is it a food? Well, it has a high caloric content, so it does provide a lot of energy. It provides no nutrition otherwise. So I'd say it's also a food in the same way refined sugar is a food: not a very good one.
 
235360287471352662 said:
I think you're confusing fermentation and metabolism.

generally speaking, metabolism consumes energy
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Not sure I follow you - I'm not confusing fermentation with metabolism. Ethanol produces roughly 7 kcal/g when metabolised by the body. The initial step of metabolism is endothermic, and consumes energy, but the net energy calculation is exothermic.
 
extae2 said:
Is it a food? Well, it has a high caloric content, so it does provide a lot of energy. It provides no nutrition otherwise. So I'd say it's also a food in the same way refined sugar is a food: not a very good one.
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this is exactly where I run into confusion. Despite contributing 7 calories of energy per gram, ethanol seems to result in a net loss of energy (like a huge one)

Do the ethanolic calories come from the fact that for every mole of ethanol, 2 moles of NADH are produced (ethanol to acetaldehyde converts NAD+ to NADH; acetaldehyde to acetic acid converts NAD+ to NADH)?

specialspack said:
Not sure I follow you - I'm not confusing fermentation with metabolism. Ethanol produces roughly 7 kcal/g when metabolised by the body. The initial step of metabolism is endothermic, and consumes energy, but the net energy calculation is exothermic.
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yeah I was thinking backwards
 
If the catabolysis of alcohol goes all the way to completion, then, we have a very exothermic event yielding some 1325 kJ/mol of energy. If the reaction stops partway through the metabolic pathways, which happens because acetic acid is excreted in the urine after drinking, then not nearly as much energy can be derived from alcohol, indeed, only 215.1 kJ/mol. At the very least, the theoretical limits on energy yield are determined to be 215.1 kJ/mol to 1325.3 kJ/mol. It is also important to note that step 1 on this reaction is endothermic, requiring 47.2 kJ/mol of alcohol, or about 3 molecules of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) per molecule of ethanol.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_metabolism
 
Perhaps you are losing track because formation of acetaldehyde is endothermic and only the metabolism of acetaldehyde and acetic acid is exothermic?
Also, acetic acid - which is formed from acetaldehyde - is partly excreted in the urine before it is metabolized.
 
specialspack said:
If the reaction stops partway through the metabolic pathways, which happens because acetic acid is excreted in the urine after drinking, then not nearly as much energy can be derived from alcohol, indeed, only 215.1 kJ/mol.
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thanks man. that clears it up a bit, since 215 kJ/mol corresponds to roughly 1 calorie per gram.

oh and I guess the calories come from the fact that the end-products of (complete) ethanol metabolism are 3 parts water and 2 parts carbon dioxide. Fascinating stuff. Summed up very nicely in these simple little illustrations:

NSFW:
Gycolpathway.gif

Citrate.gif
 
Anecdotally, I've come across a few alcoholics who seem to consume little else but alcohol (spirits, granted) over long periods of time.

I'm pretty sure they're getting almost all their calories from the ethanol...
 
3rd_I_blind said:
Perhaps you are losing track because formation of acetaldehyde is endothermic and only the metabolism of acetaldehyde and acetic acid is exothermic?
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now, specifically, I'm losing track because the body is not a bomb calorimeter. Alcohol consumption leaves me feeling drained and I'm trying to account for why.
 
235360287471352662 said:
Alcohol consumption leaves me feeling drained and I'm trying to account for why.
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There's no causal relation between the energy you take in and how energetic you feel.
Will you feel energetic after you ate five servings of french fries?

The drained feeling after alcohol consumption is probably psychologic.
If it is directly after consumption, it's probably the GABAergic effect on your brain.
If you are talking about the day after consumption, you'll just feel crappy because your body is still recovering from being poisoned.
 
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