How is ethanol digested by the body?

How is ethanol digested by the body?

• A. Not digested but absorbed unchanged
• B. Excreted unchanged
• C. Digested into glucose
• D. Converted to acetaldehyde

Answer: (A)

Ethanol is not digested in the gut. It is a small molecule that passes through the stomach and intestinal lining by simple diffusion and is absorbed into the bloodstream largely unchanged. Digestion refers to enzymatic breaking down of nutrients in the GI tract, which ethanol does not undergo. After absorption, the body begins to metabolize ethanol, mainly in the liver, by alcohol dehydrogenase converting it to acetaldehyde and then to acetate. Minor metabolism can occur in the stomach, but that doesn’t change the fact that the molecule is absorbed unchanged. So the best description is that it is not digested but absorbed unchanged.

Ethanol is not digested in the gut. It is a small molecule that passes through the stomach and intestinal lining by simple diffusion and is absorbed into the bloodstream largely unchanged. Digestion refers to enzymatic breaking down of nutrients in the GI tract, which ethanol does not undergo. After absorption, the body begins to metabolize ethanol, mainly in the liver, by alcohol dehydrogenase converting it to acetaldehyde and then to acetate. Minor metabolism can occur in the stomach, but that doesn’t change the fact that the molecule is absorbed unchanged. So the best description is that it is not digested but absorbed unchanged.