Festive drinking and metabolic body odor : For those 'intolerant'

At this time of year, those with a bloodborne body odor condition may partake in alcohol consumption along with the normals. The question is, will they metabolically 'handle' it the same way as a normal person ? At this point, we don't know. This is aimed at those who feel they tolerate alcohol badly, whether it's a new problem, or whether they have always had an intolerance. Such reactions would be 3 day hangovers, with perhaps the worst being a 'chemically depressed' feeling 72 hours later. Or bad reactions when drinking, such as facial flushing or feeling sick or painful kidneys.

So if alcohol tends to not agree with you (despite the will being there), this post is for you. Why is the drinking-reaction so bad ?

At the moment, we don't know. If you feel ok after drinking, then it may not be an issue. For the record, here are some possible hypothetical ideas to explain alcohol intolerance or bad reactions.

1: Aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme : This doesn't seem to be part of the phase1/phase2 drug-metabolizing enzymes, but seems to be closely related to phase1 (which also generally oxidize/dehydrolize things). It deals with aldehydes. In the case of alcohol, it deals with the resulting acetaldehyde.

Alcohol is ethanol, and is usually detoxed in this way
Ethanol (mildly toxic) > Acetaldehyde (very toxic) > Acetate (non-toxic)
The acetaldehyde is changed to acetate by the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzyme. If there is a bottleneck at this point, people tend to feel very ill. Some genetically have a 'weak' ALDH2 enzyme, and have a very bad reaction to alcohol. This is very common in certain ethnics, such as Asians and Native Americans. Alcoholics can even be prescribed a drug that depresses this enzyme so they have a bad reaction to alcohol.

ALDHs have been found in nearly every form of living thing. Their primary role in humans and other mammals is protecting the body from toxic compounds called aldehydes. Early interest (in the 70s), focused on an ALDH in the liver that helps metabolize an aldehyde (acetaldehyde) that comes from alcohol, changing it to acetic acid, which the body burns for energy. A drug called Antabuse — sometimes used in treating alcoholism — deactivates the relevant ALDH, making you sick if you drink.
http://www.psc.edu/science/hempel.html

CYP2E1, one of the cyp450 enzyme superfamily, seems to play a role in ALDH function. Perhaps this is a weakpoint. We don't know. This is one of the phase1 CYP450 enzyme superfamily.

2: Leaky gut : There have been studies where only those alcoholics with leaky gut develop cirrhosis. Perhaps leaky gut is a factor
1999 pubmed paper: Leaky gut in alcoholic cirrhosis: a possible mechanism for alcohol-induced liver damage

3: Candida overgrowth : Candida produces ethanol. Presumably in very low levels, but perhaps the body is fed up with the constant ethanol load. Or any other dysbiosis problem. Many microbes produce alcohols.

4: Vitmain and mineral status : perhaps this is a factor. Currently unknown.

5: You are permanently mildly ill : you wouldn't drink with a cold/flu. People who have fecal body odor, there is something very odd going on. The medical system regards such a problem as only possible in certain rare cases very close to death. Of course they are wrong, but these toxins can't be good for you. Anyone with this problem should probably regard themselves as currently permanently 'ill'. Perhaps 'general malaise' would be the term

At this point, there are no answers. This is purely to promote thought.

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related links
wikipedia: Aldehyde_dehydrogenase
wikipedia:ALDH2
ALDH.org: alcohol facial flushing
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