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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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 Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:59 am Post subject: 'Boilermaker' no-no for health |
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Any experts want to weigh in on this subject?
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2013/12/319_148334.html
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Doctors warn that “Poktanju,” the local equivalent of the boilermaker, is more detrimental to people’s health than pure liquor. They also advise no more than five glasses of soju for males and 2.5 glasses for females for each drinking session
The drinking season has come as many people meet with friends and colleagues to celebrate the end of the year. These events are supposed to be happy occasions, but, they often go too far and can be damaging to people’s health in a culture that is lenient on alcohol and excuses heavy drinkers as sociable individuals. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, drinking alcohol shortens Koreans’ life expectancy by around 11 months. How can we remain healthy while enjoying drinking session?
‘Poktanju,’ bomb to your body
“Poktanju,” the local equivalent of the boilermaker, is still popular in the country. According to a survey by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, one in three people say they drink boilermakers at least once a year. Mixing two or more varieties of alcohol, they can drink more quickly and get drunk quicker.
However, doctors warn that such concoctions are more detrimental to people’s health than pure liquor. Our body absorbs alcohol the quickest when it is between 12 to 14 degrees, which poktanju fits precisely. As it is absorbed more quickly, the blood alcohol concentration rises steeply. It accelerates diuresis, leading to dehydration of the body. Various mixtures in the different liquors can create a chemical reaction, worsening the effects of a hangover.
Glasses are often shared when drinking boilermakers, but helicobacter pylori, which 70 percent of Koreans have, can be transmitted through sharing glasses. The bacterium is known to cause gastritis and stomach cancer. Hepatitis A can also be transmitted by sharing glasses.
The latest trend in poktanju is mixing alcohol with energy drinks, but it is even more harmful. They expect the mixture of alcohol and energy drink will never make them tired and they will be able to enjoy drinking longer, but the Jager bomb is “like a bomb to our body, which can even lead to death,” says Prof. Moon Il-hwan at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.
First, the carbonic acid in energy drinks accelerates absorption of alcohol into the small intestines by opening the door between the stomach and the intestines. As more alcohol is absorbed by our body, it can damage the liver, heart or brain. The liver decomposes about 80 percent of toxic matter of alcohol, but if it goes beyond this capacity, problems will occur such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
“As alcohol is more quickly absorbed with energy boilermakers, we get drunk faster. However, as caffeine temporarily subdues the physical symptoms of being drunk such as nausea and dizziness, we come to drink more alcohol than the liver can detoxify,” the doctor said.
“Regardless of your drinking capacity, the liver is damaged according to the quantity of the alcohol absorbed,” Prof. Moon said. He stressed that the liver is a silent organ. “Alcoholic liver disease can progress into fatty liver, hepatitis, or cirrhosis, and all of them can develop into cancer. Those who often have boilermaker or drinking session should regularly get their liver examined to prevent liver diseases,” he said.
Reduce risk from drinking
The Korea Health Promotion Foundation recommends lowering down risk in drinking. First of all, the amount of alcohol that minimizes the damage on health is less than 40 grams for man and 20 grams for woman, for each drinking session. This is five glasses of soju for males and 2.5 glasses for females, as a glass of soju contains around 8 grams of alcohol. Diverse liquors have their own glasses, and the amount of alcohol just around the same for each. The guideline recommends limiting the drinking session to once a week.
It also explains who should avoid drinking. Juveniles, pregnant women or those planning pregnancy or breastfeeding shouldn’t drink, of course, and those whose faces turn red when drinking should give a second thought as the reddening face means their bodies lack the ability to break down alcohol.
Prof. Lee Hae-guk at Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital recommends having a meal before drinking, because this prevents the sudden absorption of alcohol in our body. “Each glass of alcohol should be accompanied by two glasses of water because it helps the excretion of alcohol on top of making you feel full, cutting alcohol consumption,” he says.
Snacks should accompany drinks, and he recommends grilled chicken or fish and fruit instead of fried chicken or “Samgyeopsal,” or pork belly, popular in Korea. This is because fat hampers the decomposition of alcohol while vegetables and fruits hamper the absorption of alcohol.
Singing and talking while drinking makes you less intoxicated because it helps excrete alcohol through respiration, so enjoy the festive mood. However, the doctor stresses that cigarettes should be banned while drinking because indulging in them will lead to a deficiency of oxygen, damaging cells. Alcohol accelerates the absorption of toxic matter of cigarettes including nicotine, which accelerates the absorption of alcohol, damaging our body more seriously, according to the doctor.
Headaches the next morning may prompt you to take pills, but don’t take acetaminophen after drinking because both the pill and alcohol put a strain on the liver.
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Man, I thought I was doing good for my body with those. This changes everything. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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The most disturbing part of the article is this:
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| helicobacter pylori, which 70 percent of Koreans have, can be transmitted through sharing glasses. The bacterium is known to cause gastritis and stomach cancer. Hepatitis A can also be transmitted by sharing glasses. |
I hope I don't get diseases from sanitation issues stemming from shared food (which is the norm in Korea). |
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Perceptioncheck
Joined: 13 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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Wait. . .so drinking on an empty stomach and smoking is bad for you? Pregnant women shouldn't drink? THE LIVER IS DAMAGED ACCORDING TO THE QUANTITY OF ALCOHOL ABSORBED?!!
Another piece of revolutionary journalism. Thanks for posting! |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| Man, I thought I was doing good for my body with those. This changes everything. |
Hopslam was bottled yesterday. |
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jdog2050
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:12 am Post subject: |
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Yeah Poktangju is bad for you.
May I suggest an alternative? I hear that Magpie place is decent.
...
...
...yeahhhhhhhh |
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maximmm
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:47 am Post subject: |
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The apologist brotherhood has always recommended only 100% pure Korean alcoholic beverages which always bring clarity and greater comprehension of our ideology - especially if/when consumed in unlimited quantity.
Conversely, foreign alcoholic beverages are very harmful indeed - please, stay away. |
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El Bandito
Joined: 07 Oct 2013
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| maximmm wrote: |
The apologist brotherhood has always recommended only 100% pure Korean alcoholic beverages which always bring clarity and greater comprehension of our ideology - especially if/when consumed in unlimited quantity.
Conversely, foreign alcoholic beverages are very harmful indeed - please, stay away. |
You know, the first couple of times, this schtick was barely funny, but now you're just beating a dead horse. Try finding a hobby. |
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maximmm
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| El Bandito wrote: |
| maximmm wrote: |
The apologist brotherhood has always recommended only 100% pure Korean alcoholic beverages which always bring clarity and greater comprehension of our ideology - especially if/when consumed in unlimited quantity.
Conversely, foreign alcoholic beverages are very harmful indeed - please, stay away. |
You know, the first couple of times, this schtick was barely funny, but now you're just beating a dead horse. Try finding a hobby. |
I can assure you, the horse is not dead at all, it is simply lying dormant. Still, perhaps I should take a step back until it awakens. What hobby would you recommend? |
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El Bandito
Joined: 07 Oct 2013
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 8:42 am Post subject: |
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| maximmm wrote: |
| El Bandito wrote: |
| maximmm wrote: |
The apologist brotherhood has always recommended only 100% pure Korean alcoholic beverages which always bring clarity and greater comprehension of our ideology - especially if/when consumed in unlimited quantity.
Conversely, foreign alcoholic beverages are very harmful indeed - please, stay away. |
You know, the first couple of times, this schtick was barely funny, but now you're just beating a dead horse. Try finding a hobby. |
I can assure you, the horse is not dead at all, it is simply lying dormant. Still, perhaps I should take a step back until it awakens. What hobby would you recommend? |
Russian roulette |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Hokie21 wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
| Man, I thought I was doing good for my body with those. This changes everything. |
Hopslam was bottled yesterday. |
Before I came to Korea it hadn't really caught on. At that time Oberon was still king of the Bell's lineup and Two-Hearted was starting to get noticed.
Then the last time I went back home the guy at the corner store said "limit one 6 pack per customer"... |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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I'm With You
Joined: 01 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 3:05 am Post subject: |
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| So is a boilermaker a shot of whisky dropped with the shot glass into a pint glass or drank separately but at the same time? |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:56 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| Hokie21 wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
| Man, I thought I was doing good for my body with those. This changes everything. |
Hopslam was bottled yesterday. |
Before I came to Korea it hadn't really caught on. At that time Oberon was still king of the Bell's lineup and Two-Hearted was starting to get noticed.
Then the last time I went back home the guy at the corner store said "limit one 6 pack per customer"... |
You sound like a Michigan man so I'll let ya know that Short's has gotten huge.
I used to live outside Ann Arbor....MI is becoming a solid beer state. |
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: La Florida
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| Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:20 am Post subject: |
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| To be on the safe side, it's better to just not get out of bed in the morning... |
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