Wednesday Facts: you didn't know this yet

You know it's Wednesday when you're treated to new Wednesday Facts. After reading this article you can have a say in the discussion about vitamin deficiency, malnutrition and intestinal problems.

Drinking too much alcohol can lead to a vitamin deficiency.

Drinking too much can lead to a vitamin deficiency. First, more vitamins are 'consumed' when alcohol is broken down. Second, drinking a lot can encourage bad eating habits. You are more likely to choose easy and unhealthy food. And finally: a heavy drinker can suffer from an inflamed gastrointestinal mucosa, which disrupts the absorption of vitamins and minerals.

As a drinker you can be malnourished and still gain weight.

Not only does that sound contradictory, it is. Alcoholic drinks provide energy. But there are no vitamins in it. Heavy drinkers who neglect their diet run the risk of becoming malnourished. In addition, if the person neglects his eating habits and therefore eats a lot of unhealthy food, a heavy drinker can still gain weight, when in fact he is malnourished. Source: alcoholhulp.be.

Alcohol can promote constipation.

Before you started this break, you sometimes had a drink or something. And you may recognize the following: you have finished your first drinks and you feel your bladder filling up. Time for a pit stop. Once you've been to the toilet, it seems like you have to take every two sips. That's how it works: alcoholic drinks inhibit a hormone that prevents urine production. As a result, more urine is produced and you have to go to the toilet often. You lose a lot of moisture and will run the risk of drying out in extreme situations. This overproduction of urine, resulting in dehydration, increases the risk of constipation (hard stools due to fluid deficiency). And so it is that you can suffer from painful stools due to your alcohol consumption.