What is acetaldehyde, and why should I be aware of it?
Acetaldehyde is a compound by-product of alcohol that is ~20x more toxic than alcohol itself. It's one of the primary reasons you don't feel great after drinking, causing an upset stomach or overall queasiness. It's also why some people experience redness & flushing after drinking because their body contains fewer enzymes to break it down.
Whether or not you show physical symptoms, acetaldehyde exposure affects anyone who drinks.
How the alcohol metabolization process works
In order for your body to properly metabolize alcohol, your body must convert alcohol into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde eventually converts into acetate, and only then can it safely clear through your system.
Unfortunately, the liver can only turn acetaldehyde into acetate so fast. On average, your body can process up to 1 drink's worth of acetaldehyde per hour. So, if you've had 3 drinks in one night, you'll have acetaldehyde in your body for about 3 hours. If you've had 5 drinks, that's 5 hours.
During this process, this toxic compound circulates throughout your bloodstream, coming into contact with the cells in your body. So it's no wonder that alcohol makes everything in your body hurt the next day.
Breaking down alcohol 'breaking down'
How Cheers helps
DHM, the main ingredient in Restore, has been shown in scientific literature to speed up the rate at which acetaldehyde gets metabolized and cleared from the bloodstream. Additionally, Restore also contains l-cysteine, which binds to acetaldehyde and supports the reduction of those levels. L-cysteine reacts with the acetaldehyde to form something called 2-methylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (or "MTCA" for short). MTCA is non-toxic and eventually cleared from the body.
