Why do I get diarrhoea after drinking alcohol?

[Prem]

Hello, I am 35 years old. I have no medical history of illness. I regularly drink 30 ml of alcohol for keeping my cardiovascular health fit and fine. I went to a party two days back. I am having diarrhoea today. I drank a lot yesterday. Is it due to my excessive drinking? I cannot figure this out. Please explain why do I get diarrhoea after drinking alcohol?

[Akhil]

@prem When you drink alcohol, it travels to your stomach. If there’s food in your stomach, alcohol will be absorbed along with some of the nutrients of the food into your bloodstream through the cells in the stomach wall. This slows the digestion of the alcohol. If you haven’t eaten, the alcohol will continue to your small intestine where it similarly passes through the cells of the intestinal wall, but at a much quicker rate. This is why you feel more of a buzz, and faster, when you drink on an empty stomach. However, eating foods that are hard on your body, such as those that are very fibrous or very greasy, can also speed up digestion. Once most of the alcohol is absorbed, the rest is excreted from your body through your stool and urine. Your colon muscles move in a coordinated squeeze to push the stool out. Alcohol speeds up the rate of these squeezes, which doesn’t allow for water to be absorbed by your colon as it is normally. This causes your stool to come out as diarrhoea, often very quickly and with a lot of extra water.