How long does it take for the liver to eliminate alcohol?
The liver is the organ most affected when it comes to alcohol. Even if you only drink socially occasionally or have a few too many glasses of wine on a holiday, alcohol can still have consequences.
Many people wonder if a month without alcohol is enough to restore your liver to normal? It is true that stopping drinking for any length of time will have overall benefits, with some studies showing that liver function begins to improve after just 2 to 3 weeks.
But a complete detox is needed to get the most benefits, and the length of time it takes to detox depends on many individual factors.
"It depends on how much damage has occurred," explains liver specialist Christina Lindenmeyer, MD, PhD. "And whether there are any complications related to the damage."
Of all the organs in the body, the liver is the most affected when it comes to alcohol. Photo: Getty
How Alcohol Affects Your Liver?
Your liver has enzymes that act as special tools to help metabolize (break down) various toxins that enter your body, such as alcohol.
In the short term, alcohol is processed through your liver in about an hour. Basically, a hangover is when your liver becomes too busy to process alcohol properly, so alcohol temporarily floods your bloodstream. This is what makes you feel dizzy or drunk after multiple drinks.
Over time, prolonged alcohol use can cause serious damage to the liver. The liver has a specific pathway that toxins follow to be broken down, so if over time this pathway becomes overloaded with too many toxins, it can affect how well the liver works.
Several health problems and diseases can develop in the liver due to long-term alcohol use, including fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and alcoholic hepatitis.
How do you detox your liver?
If your liver is affected by long-term alcohol use, there are ways to give your liver and other parts of your body a break. You can take steps to detoxify your liver by following these steps:
Stop drinking alcohol
“Abstinence is the most important intervention and treatment,” Dr. Lindenmeyer notes. Of course, sometimes that’s easier said than done. If you’re a heavy drinker, you may need to give up alcohol to let your body adjust. If you’re experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms, be sure to talk to your doctor.
Maintain a healthy diet
Another thing that helps your liver recover is good nutrition. There is no magic diet, but the Mediterranean diet can help fill some of the nutritional gaps you may have due to alcohol use.
This diet encourages eating foods such as fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. At the same time, this diet discourages eating a lot of meat, dairy products, or sweets.
“Optimizing nutrition is really the most important and evidence-based intervention other than stopping drinking,” Dr. Lindenmeyer points out. That’s because when people have liver dysfunction, they’re at risk of not getting enough protein, calories, or vitamins.
In addition, there are several types of food Certain foods like tea, fish, and nuts can benefit liver function in a number of ways. Think of them as a way to give your liver a nudge in the right direction. Nutritional therapy is important in nourishing the liver and providing it with the ingredients it needs to repair itself.
A balanced diet plays a very important role in liver health. Photo: Shutterstock
How long does it take for the liver to detoxify alcohol?
The liver detoxification timeline depends on many different factors such as:
- Amount of alcohol consumed.
- Frequency of drinking alcohol.
- Any other health conditions you may have.
- Year old.
- Weight.
“There is no one answer that is right for everyone. The timing depends on how much damage has occurred and any complications that may occur,” says Dr. Lindenmeyer.
So, a few weeks off will help, but the longer you stay alcohol-free, the better. And if your liver has been affected for a long time, your doctor may recommend lifelong abstinence to allow your liver to detoxify and fully recover.
“For patients with cirrhosis after severe liver damage from alcohol, even one glass of wine is toxic to the liver,” warns Dr. Lindenmeyer.
Normally, after 1 hour, the liver will absorb and metabolize 1 unit of alcohol (equivalent to 10 grams of pure alcohol), equivalent to 220ml of beer (2/3 bottle of 5% alcohol concentration), equivalent to 100ml of wine (13.5% alcohol concentration), equivalent to 30ml of strong alcohol (40% alcohol concentration).
It takes about 2 hours for the body to completely eliminate a unit of alcohol. On the contrary, for people with weak livers or slow metabolism, alcohol elimination will take longer.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, former lecturer at the Institute of Biotechnology and Food, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said that the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from each person is different and depends on many factors.
"The issue here is not how much to drink to avoid getting a blood alcohol test or to get the least fine, but if you have drunk alcohol, do not drive. This is a very good measure to avoid drinking and driving, causing accidents for yourself and others," Associate Professor Thinh said.
According to him, some people get drunk after 1-2 sips, some people have to drink a lot so there is no general number for everyone. We just need to understand simply that if you drink alcohol, you should not drive.
"If we drink 1-2 cans of beer at home at night, the next morning there will usually be no alcohol left because the body breaks it down immediately, except in cases of drinking too much," Associate Professor Thinh analyzed.
According toHealthline, alcohol is an addictive substance with a short "lifespan" in the body. Once alcohol has entered the bloodstream, your body will metabolize a certain amount of alcohol every hour, depending on the individual and other factors such as the size and weight of the liver.
Your body metabolizes alcohol at a constant rate, about 1 drink per hour. However, this can vary somewhat based on the type of alcohol you drink, your physical health, or your genetic predisposition.
Signwarning signs that the liver is overloaded
If you drink more than the recommended amount of alcohol, you may be damaging your liver. At first, it may be difficult to recognize if your body is sending you any warning signs that it is overloaded.
Here are some common signs that your liver is being seriously affected by alcohol:
- Jaundice.
- Swollen feet and ankles.
- Dark urine.
- Stomach-ache.
- Nausea or chronic fatigue.
- Itchy skin.
- Feeling of constant confusion.
- Gastrointestinal bleeding.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol should be consumed in moderation, meaning 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men. If you maintain this average (or less), the harm caused by alcohol is likely to be minimal.
Binge drinking, on the other hand, is typically defined as four drinks for women and five drinks for men within two hours. And even occasional binge drinking can have a profound impact on your liver health over time.
Overall, taking a month off of alcohol won't necessarily completely detoxify your liver, but if you tend to drink too much alcohol, you may see small health improvements like reduced liver inflammation and increased energy levels.
Just like a broken bone or infection takes time for the body to heal, so does an overworked liver.
