Natural Way to Mitigate the Effects of Alcohol Consumption

While over-consumption of alcohol is never smart for anyone, there is that rare occasion when even the former teetotaler might have a little too much wine or beer at a party. But thanks to a simple, natural ingredient, you can mitigate – not eliminate – the unwanted effects of drinking alcoholic beverages and help slow the impairment of speech and cognition – dry yeast.

This little trick, of course, doesn’t change the fact that many alcoholic drinks are full of empty calories and high levels of sugar, but if you are going to indulge and you have a low tolerance, you can use active dry yeast –the same little packets you find in your own kitchen cabinets or grocery store aisle for making bread – to break down the molecules of alcohol into more benign constituents: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. This is essentially what happens when your body metabolizes alcohol in the liver, but active dry yeast (ADY) contains a special enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH).

By eating one teaspoon of ADY before drinking a beer, for example, the enzymes in your stomach will help to break down the alcohol before it gets into your blood stream, thus lessening the side effects of alcohol, such as drunkenness. Once alcohol is in the bloodstream, it passes into the brain impairing judgment. ADY allows this process to be largely impeded.

Read: 4 Health-Protective Qualities of Resveratrol

There are actually some health benefits from drinking alcoholic beverages, too, but all in moderation. Wine drinkers who don’t over indulge can enjoy 30 percent less risk from developing type 2 diabetes, and even develop fewer cataracts. Wine drinkers also enjoy a lower incidence of colon cancer, and the resveratrol, the antioxidant found in wine and other high-pigment fruits can help with cardiovascular health.

Always drink smartly, but the next time you need to ‘hold your liquor’, consider utilizing some common active dry yeast.