LIVER BASICS
This organ performs over 500 biochemical reactions every second.
The liver
What your liver treats ethanol as the moment it enters your body.
Poison
The mode your liver shifts into within 24 hours after alcohol leaves your system.
Repair mode (or detox/repair)
The calming neurotransmitter alcohol boosts, creating the “brake pedal” effect in the brain.
GABA
The common condition where liver cells become swollen with fat droplets in regular drinkers.
Alcoholic fatty liver disease
The organ that can be badly damaged without pain because it has no pain receptors.
Liver
The enzyme that starts alcohol breakdown by converting ethanol into acetaldehyde.
Alcohol dehydrogenase
The liver immune cells that help dial down inflammation as healing begins.
Kupffer cells
The stimulating neurotransmitter alcohol suppresses, linked to alertness and energy.
Glutamate
The average percentage range liver fat can drop after 30 days alcohol-free.
15–20%
The scientific name for the tight connection between your gut and your liver.
Gut-liver axis
The toxic, cancer-linked byproduct created during alcohol metabolism.
Acetaldehyde
The condition caused when alcohol loosens the gut lining and opens gaps between intestinal cells.
Leaky gut
The uncomfortable overexcited state that happens when alcohol is removed and the brain is still in compensation mode.
Anxiety / nervous system overactivity / hyperexcitability
The enzyme alcohol stimulates that increases conversion of testosterone into estrogen.
aromatase
The blood vessel that takes blood straight from your intestines to your liver.
Portal vein
The fat-burning process that drops by roughly 73% after a single drink.
Fat oxidation
The “security checkpoint” structures in the gut that begin closing again within 24–48 hours after stopping alcohol.
Tight junctions
The sleep stage that rebounds after quitting alcohol, often causing vivid dreams or nightmares.
REM sleep
The brain’s reward chemical that begins to normalize again around week three, making everyday pleasures feel real.
Dopamine
The rare biological ability this organ has to regrow after major tissue loss.
Regeneration
The amount of alcohol a major 2018 global health analysis concluded is safe for overall health.
Zero
The system your liver starts stabilizing around day 3, reducing shakiness and sugar cravings.
Glucose metabolism
The vitamin most tied to energy conversion that alcohol commonly blocks absorption of.
Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
The protective chromosome “caps” that alcohol shortens faster, speeding biological aging.
Telomeres