In typical Ghanaian homes, alcohol is considered an appetizer.
While many consume it during merrymaking and also to forget their troubles, others take it to stimulate their appetite in order to eat well especially when they are having their favourite meal.
But nutritionist, Paul Akapanga is dispelling the widely held belief that alcohol stimulates appetite.
Speaking in an interview on Breakfast Today on Thursday, Akanpanga explained that contrary to this notion, alcoholic beverages impair the brain receptor, making it difficult to detect when one is satisfied.
As a result, the system, he explained further, is unable to receive the right signals and will continue to expand to receive excess food even when one is satisfied.
This, he said, is the reason people who take alcoholic drinks immediately before meals eat a lot.
“Alcohol does not give appetite. It will just block the brain from understanding that you are satisfied. So you are just eating. And the issue is that the stomach is able to expand.
So you see that somebody can take alcohol and eat heavy and get up and walking is a problem because the stomach has expanded to the point that it is now causing discomfort,” he explained.
He added that alcohol also blocks the taste buds from functioning properly and thus, consumers are unable detect even if the food doesn’t taste bad.
“It blocks you from understanding that this food is tasting bad or good”.
