And that process of going from ethanol to acetyl aldehyde to acetate does involve the production of a toxic molecule . Right again , acetyl aldehyde is really toxic . And N AD and if we want to get technical , it's the N AD to N A DH ratio .
What that means is that if your body can't do this conversion of ethanol to acetyl aldehyde to acetate fast enough . Well , acetyl aldehyde will build up in your body and cause more damage . So it's important that your body be able to do this conversion very quickly .
Acetate is actually something that your body can use as fuel . And that process of going from ethanol to acetyl aldehyde to acetate does involve the production of a toxic molecule . Right again , acetyl aldehyde is really toxic .
It's broken down into acetyl aldehyde . And if you thought ethanol was bad acetyl aldehyde is particularly bad acetyl aldehyde is poison , it will kill cells , it damages and kills cells and it is indiscriminate as to which cells it damages and kills . Now , that's a problem obviously , and the body deals with that problem by using another component of the N ad biochemical pathway to convert ace aldehyde into something called acetate .
But nonetheless , when you ingest alcohol , some percentage is being shuttled into a worse poison and some is being shuttled into a fuel source . Now , the important thing to understand is that it is the poison , the acetyl aldehyde itself that leads to the effect of being inebriated or drunk . I think most people don't realize that that being drunk is actually a poison induced disruption in the way that your neural circuits work .
