>>18959858

>>18959858

A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison[1] produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms.[2] They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated.[3] The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919)[4] and is derived from the word "toxic".

Toxins can be small molecules, peptides, or proteins that are capable of causing disease on contact with or absorption by body tissues interacting with biological macromolecules such as enzymes or cellular receptors. They vary greatly in their toxicity, ranging from usually minor (such as a bee sting) to potentially fatal even at extremely low doses (such as botulinum toxin).[5][6]

>>18959872

Alcohol consumption is part of many cultures and wildly so in American culture. Mortality from alcohol-related disease was up 40% from 1999-2017, and in 2020 alcohol intake increased by over 30% by some reports, creating a pandemic of its own.

From an evolutionary standpoint intake of alcohol containing fermented liquids and foods may have had an advantage for us. In the primitive world, the fermentation process may have had a preservative role and controlled the pathogen load we might have ingested. Fermentation may have allowed safe hydration in times of clean water scarcity and allowed for some food preservation to bridge times of food scarcity.

Alcohol was never a foreign substance to us, as some bacteria in our intestines that we evolved with use fermentation for metabolism and produce alcohol at low levels every day. Therefore, we evolved with enzymes, most notably alcohol dehydrogenase, that metabolize alcohol and convert it into a usable energy source for us, as well. Another evolutionary advantage.

However, the concentration of alcohol in fermented liquids and foods was very low compared to the concentrations we see today from the more complex brewing and distilling processes of the modern world.

The concentration of alcohol produced or consumed by us in our prehistoric lives was easily metabolized prior to any significant toxic effects. The alcoholic drinks and the patterns of alcohol consumption we see today can overload our system's ability to metabolize the alcohol, resulting in intoxication and toxicity.

A recent University of Oxford study concluded that no amount of alcohol is good for you. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with lower total brain volumes, lower brain grey matter volumes, negative white matter changes, higher blood pressure, and higher body mass index. Binge drinking made the picture even worse.

We have been taught for generations that moderate alcohol consumption may in fact be good for us. The thought has been that the relaxation effect was therapeutic. This rational lead to the common theory that alcohol exerts its effects primarily through our bodies’ neurotransmitter network.

Alcohol has been reported to enhance GABA (gamma amino butyric acid, an inhibitory neurotransmitter) release and act directly at GABA receptors as mechanisms by which alcohol causes relaxation.

Alcohol has also been reported to decrease glutamate (an excitatory neurotransmitter) receptor activity, thus furthering a relaxation response.

These combined effects would result in increased inhibition and decreased excitation and would produce a state of overall calm and relaxation, if not sleepiness. However, people who consume alcohol aren’t always relaxed and subdued: Sometimes they are euphoric, excited, hyperactive, impulsive, disinhibited, and aggressive. There is some explaining to do.

So, the story goes that alcohol also causes the release of dopamine, an activating, feel good, re-enforcing neurotransmitter that stimulates sympathetic nervous system activity, movement, and approach behavior.