Excerpt from Pages 104-106 of Nutrition and Your Mind by George Watson, PhD, (1972)
If I were to ask you to name all the types of fuel the body can utilize, although the reply appears obviously simple, you would probably answer incorrectly. For while carbohydrate, fat and protein do indeed represent all types of food we customarily think of, yet biochemically - and socially - something very important must be added: ethyl alcohol.
Although in many ways alcohol does not act as we expect food to act, since it may produce profound pathological reactions, yet from a biochemical point of view the utilization of alcohol can be looked at in the very same way that we have examined the breakdown of sugar and fat in cells of the tissues. And while we lack a full understanding of the effects of alcohol on the system, we do know that there are two related nutritional phases to its metabolism.
First, alcohol increases the blood-sugar level by causing the liver to give up part of its stored sugar (glycogen); hence alcohol stimulates carbohydrate metabolism. Second, alcohol itself is directly broken down - principally in the liver - to produce energy-rich intermediate acetate (acetyl coenzyme A), which in either oxidized in the citric acid cycle to produce ATP (energy) or converted to other substances such as body fat and cholesterol.
Alcohol is a rich source of acetate, ounce for ounce producing more than sugar or protein, but not quite as much as fat. In addition, however - and this point has an important bearing on its use and abuse - alcohol may be thought of as almost “instant acetate.”
Let us suppose that you’re physically and mentally exhausted - cold, tired, dispirited. Biochemically your cellular acetate is minimal, your blood sugar is low, and you’ve just about run out of ready nutritional reserves. Then someone puts a stiff drink of two ounces of 100-proof whiskey in your hand. As you sip it slowly for a few minutes, life, strength, and hope seem to push out the ache, cold, and despair.
If alcohol is new to you, in this moment you have had an almost unforgettable learning experience. You’ve been rewarded at a time and in a way that will be long remembered - consciously or unconsciously. And the next time your energy reserves are gone, and you’re mentally and physically spent, you’ll probably think “whiskey!” You will also have gained a personal insight into the experience behind the word, which comes from the Gaelic usquebaugh, meaning “water of life.”
Water of life it would indeed be if the whole story of alcohol were to end with its nutritional biochemistry, and it was simply another easily utilizable and wholesome source of energy. But it is not. Every drop of alcohol burned in the tissues creates a nutritional demand for carbohydrates and for the many biochemicals that it does not by itself supply, the vitamins and minerals necessary to process it. Consequently, continued, constant, or frequent use of alcohol can lead to depletion of cellular nutritional reserves needed for normal metabolism.
The paradox of alcohol is that while producing acetate and stimulating the breakdown of glucose, which in special circumstances results in apparent immediate physical and mental relief from stress, at the very same time this substance is a dangerous drug, both physically and psychologically.
One might think that since alcohol is metabolized in the normal nutritional pathways of the citric acid cycle, alcoholism is a nutritional disease, one that can be successfully treated by good nutrition. And indeed we have witnessed some dramatic successes using this approach. When psychological dependency has resulted from using alcohol as a substitute for food, then optimum nutrition can help erase the conditions of mental and physical fatigue which provide a stimulus to “think whiskey.”
For literally speaking, if you think you “need a drink” you don’t need a drink; you need ATP (energy) derived from acetate, through the breakdown of blood sugar, fat, and protein. If one is really well nourished, his energy reserves are as high as they can be. This is why truly healthy individuals cannot tolerate alcohol: Their cellular acetate breakdown is near maximum, and any rapid increase such as will result from a drink of whiskey may lead to headache, sweating, nausea, and possibly vomiting. In short, one’s tolerance to alcohol reflects one’s nutritional biochemical health. The more one can drink without adverse effect the worse off he is. It is just palin utter biochemical nonsense for people to pride themselves on being able to hold their liquor, for only those in very bad shape can do so.
Unfortunately, the use of alcohol as a nutritional crutch is far from the whole story, however, for there are many reasons why people drink other than nutritional ones. For example, I had a young man tell me he was stopping his optimum diet and vitamin/mineral formula because he was “losing his taste for Scotch.” He preferred the “pleasures of drinking” to the alternative I was offering of increased mental and physical functioning.
However, for those who don’t want to drink, who find alcohol a problem rather than a continuing source of pleasure, their first goal should be to to adopt an intensive nutritional program which will build them up to the point where they not only do not feel that they “need a drink” – they couldn’t tolerate one without feeling ill if they drank it, amazing as the sounds.
Nutrition alone may not be able to accomplish this for individuals who have vastly overcommitted themselves to a wild and unrealistic round of daily activities. If you are one of these, take a hard look at your current life-style, and reshape it so that energy output is fully compensated for by rest, sleep, and intensive nutrition.
You are welcome. I've been trying to sort the science that connects nutrient intake to health outcomes for nearly 48 years. What is really valuable to know is how to avoid excessive linoleic acid and arachidonic acid intake. So, for what it's worth, here is a comment of mine that was recently published in the 'Washington Times'. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/aug/11/letter-editor-mediterranean-diet-best-health/
Glad you wrote about this topic, Vance. The tension you speak of in this post is a good place to be, as it allows us to see the weight and importance of walking in wisdom and humility. I prefer not to drink (other than the communion I take at church every Sunday), because I've seen it abused far too many times and want to be cautious. Overall, great post! Hope all is well.
Excerpt from Pages 104-106 of Nutrition and Your Mind by George Watson, PhD, (1972)
If I were to ask you to name all the types of fuel the body can utilize, although the reply appears obviously simple, you would probably answer incorrectly. For while carbohydrate, fat and protein do indeed represent all types of food we customarily think of, yet biochemically - and socially - something very important must be added: ethyl alcohol.
Although in many ways alcohol does not act as we expect food to act, since it may produce profound pathological reactions, yet from a biochemical point of view the utilization of alcohol can be looked at in the very same way that we have examined the breakdown of sugar and fat in cells of the tissues. And while we lack a full understanding of the effects of alcohol on the system, we do know that there are two related nutritional phases to its metabolism.
First, alcohol increases the blood-sugar level by causing the liver to give up part of its stored sugar (glycogen); hence alcohol stimulates carbohydrate metabolism. Second, alcohol itself is directly broken down - principally in the liver - to produce energy-rich intermediate acetate (acetyl coenzyme A), which in either oxidized in the citric acid cycle to produce ATP (energy) or converted to other substances such as body fat and cholesterol.
Alcohol is a rich source of acetate, ounce for ounce producing more than sugar or protein, but not quite as much as fat. In addition, however - and this point has an important bearing on its use and abuse - alcohol may be thought of as almost “instant acetate.”
Let us suppose that you’re physically and mentally exhausted - cold, tired, dispirited. Biochemically your cellular acetate is minimal, your blood sugar is low, and you’ve just about run out of ready nutritional reserves. Then someone puts a stiff drink of two ounces of 100-proof whiskey in your hand. As you sip it slowly for a few minutes, life, strength, and hope seem to push out the ache, cold, and despair.
If alcohol is new to you, in this moment you have had an almost unforgettable learning experience. You’ve been rewarded at a time and in a way that will be long remembered - consciously or unconsciously. And the next time your energy reserves are gone, and you’re mentally and physically spent, you’ll probably think “whiskey!” You will also have gained a personal insight into the experience behind the word, which comes from the Gaelic usquebaugh, meaning “water of life.”
Water of life it would indeed be if the whole story of alcohol were to end with its nutritional biochemistry, and it was simply another easily utilizable and wholesome source of energy. But it is not. Every drop of alcohol burned in the tissues creates a nutritional demand for carbohydrates and for the many biochemicals that it does not by itself supply, the vitamins and minerals necessary to process it. Consequently, continued, constant, or frequent use of alcohol can lead to depletion of cellular nutritional reserves needed for normal metabolism.
The paradox of alcohol is that while producing acetate and stimulating the breakdown of glucose, which in special circumstances results in apparent immediate physical and mental relief from stress, at the very same time this substance is a dangerous drug, both physically and psychologically.
One might think that since alcohol is metabolized in the normal nutritional pathways of the citric acid cycle, alcoholism is a nutritional disease, one that can be successfully treated by good nutrition. And indeed we have witnessed some dramatic successes using this approach. When psychological dependency has resulted from using alcohol as a substitute for food, then optimum nutrition can help erase the conditions of mental and physical fatigue which provide a stimulus to “think whiskey.”
For literally speaking, if you think you “need a drink” you don’t need a drink; you need ATP (energy) derived from acetate, through the breakdown of blood sugar, fat, and protein. If one is really well nourished, his energy reserves are as high as they can be. This is why truly healthy individuals cannot tolerate alcohol: Their cellular acetate breakdown is near maximum, and any rapid increase such as will result from a drink of whiskey may lead to headache, sweating, nausea, and possibly vomiting. In short, one’s tolerance to alcohol reflects one’s nutritional biochemical health. The more one can drink without adverse effect the worse off he is. It is just palin utter biochemical nonsense for people to pride themselves on being able to hold their liquor, for only those in very bad shape can do so.
Unfortunately, the use of alcohol as a nutritional crutch is far from the whole story, however, for there are many reasons why people drink other than nutritional ones. For example, I had a young man tell me he was stopping his optimum diet and vitamin/mineral formula because he was “losing his taste for Scotch.” He preferred the “pleasures of drinking” to the alternative I was offering of increased mental and physical functioning.
However, for those who don’t want to drink, who find alcohol a problem rather than a continuing source of pleasure, their first goal should be to to adopt an intensive nutritional program which will build them up to the point where they not only do not feel that they “need a drink” – they couldn’t tolerate one without feeling ill if they drank it, amazing as the sounds.
Nutrition alone may not be able to accomplish this for individuals who have vastly overcommitted themselves to a wild and unrealistic round of daily activities. If you are one of these, take a hard look at your current life-style, and reshape it so that energy output is fully compensated for by rest, sleep, and intensive nutrition.
thanks for this contribution David. super valuable stuff!
You are welcome. I've been trying to sort the science that connects nutrient intake to health outcomes for nearly 48 years. What is really valuable to know is how to avoid excessive linoleic acid and arachidonic acid intake. So, for what it's worth, here is a comment of mine that was recently published in the 'Washington Times'. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/aug/11/letter-editor-mediterranean-diet-best-health/
Thanks for this article. I've never felt any pressure to fit in with drinking people around me. I don't know who they are when it comes to alcohol.
I have no doubt you don't feel any pressure to fit in Lindy! If I know anything about you, it's that you don't easily cave/compromise. :)
One thing I beat you at this year! Yay! ;)
I'm coming for you this year
Glad you wrote about this topic, Vance. The tension you speak of in this post is a good place to be, as it allows us to see the weight and importance of walking in wisdom and humility. I prefer not to drink (other than the communion I take at church every Sunday), because I've seen it abused far too many times and want to be cautious. Overall, great post! Hope all is well.
Thanks for this Bre. Appreciate your honesty :)