This article was consulted by a Doctor from the Gastrointestinal Medicine - Endoscopy Unit, Department of Outpatient & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Alcoholic beverages are often listed as irritants for gastric problems. However, the presence of alcohol in life is unavoidable. Therefore, many patients with stomachaches wonder if they can drink beer with a stomachache and how to minimize the impact of alcohol on their gastric condition.
1. What is a Stomachache?
A stomachache is the most common symptom of gastritis. This is a progressive disease related to certain types of infections, causing direct irritation or local tissue damage. Stomachache can be acute or chronic, corresponding to new onset or long-term gastritis.
Factors commonly thought to affect gastric conditions include the use of non-steroidal drugs, bacterial infections, bile reflux from the small intestine, autoimmune disorders, and excessive alcohol consumption. In addition, other factors can contribute to gastric irritation, including stress, smoking, and eating certain sour, spicy, and hot foods.
Among these, alcohol is a significant cause and has its own specific condition called alcoholic gastritis. In this case, treatment is similar to gastritis caused by other factors, but the focus is always on alcohol abstinence.
2. How Does Alcohol Affect the Stomach?
When consumed, alcohol can rapidly increase the amount of acid in the stomach. This can irritate the stomach lining and trigger stomachaches, causing symptoms such as dull or severe spasmodic abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, and loss of appetite. Prolonged conditions can lead to malabsorption, malnutrition, and weakness.
This condition further damages the stomach, especially with continuous alcohol consumption in alcoholics, leading to gastritis, gastrointestinal bleeding, or gastric perforation.
However, if the patient can abstain from alcohol for a period of time, the gastric complications can improve and return to normal function. Thus, eliminating alcohol is the way to prevent the symptoms and complications of alcoholic gastritis.
Conversely, if alcohol consumption continues, not only is the stomach affected, but the patient also suffers from reflux of excess acid into the esophagus, causing esophageal ulcer, bleeding from esophageal varices, cirrhosis, or affecting other organ systems, leading to health decline.
3. How to Avoid Stomachache Before Drinking Beer?
In general, excessive alcohol consumption is a cause of stomachache, and in people with pre-existing gastric conditions, alcohol is also a trigger for stomachache. However, it is very difficult for someone with a gastric condition to completely abstain from alcohol. Therefore, avoiding stomachaches before drinking beer is a concern for many people.
The following suggestions may be helpful in preventing alcohol from causing stomachaches:
Drink green tea or peppermint tea during the day: These are excellent for the stomach and liver. Therefore, drinking tea during the day to prepare the body for the negative effects of alcohol is necessary.
Drink plenty of water: Alcohol is a diuretic; the more you drink, the more dehydrated the body becomes. This is especially obvious when drinking alcohol while thirsty. Therefore, drinking plenty of water beforehand will slow down alcohol absorption and prevent subsequent dehydration.
Eat before drinking: Eating something, especially carbohydrate-rich foods, before starting to drink can help slow down the rate at which the body absorbs alcohol. This also helps limit alcohol intake and reduce the negative effects on the stomach.
Eat fats: Fat helps slow down the rate at which food leaves the stomach, and the longer food stays in the stomach, the slower the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.
Avoid mixed drinks: Mixing drinks makes it difficult to track the amount of alcohol being consumed, which can easily lead to drinking more alcohol than if you were drinking just one type of beverage. The more alcohol consumed, the more the stomach is affected.
Use antacids: If drinking alcohol causes stomachache, an antacid should be taken before drinking. This is more effective than taking common pain relievers.
Avoid drinking alcohol too early: The enzymes that metabolize alcohol are usually secreted more into the digestive tract in the evening but are at their lowest levels at lunchtime. That's why a glass of wine at lunch can feel much stronger than an equivalent glass at dinner.
In summary, alcohol is a stimulating factor for stomachache. However, to answer the question of whether people with stomachaches can drink beer, people with gastric conditions need to know how to control and limit their alcohol consumption as well as apply the advice above to partially reduce unwanted effects.
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