As I walked by a co-workers desk with my ceramic cup of Blueberry Tea (yes, it's an afternoon ritual for me and yes it is a nice blue color)--I noticed alcohol aroma wafting through my path.
"Whoa, I smell alcohol," I announced with a Gastro Girl-silly laugh.
"Me, too," said another co-worker a bit more seriously.
Hmmm, I mean it's crazy busy here, but it's only Tuesday, can things really be that bad?"
Then she (our lovely bride-to-be) showed me her hands.
Waving them around, she then displayed a rather jumbo-sized bottle of hand sanitizer as though she was Vanna White showcasing a vowel.
Ah ha.
"Yea, hand sanitizer is like 60 percent alcohol," a male co-worker piped in.
Now the bride-to-be is getting married on Saturday--so I pried, "honey, the wedding stress is not that bad, now is it?
"What do you mean?" It says on the bottle it kills germs, why wouldn't it be good for me?"
Well, first of all--on the matter of swallowing germ-killing liquid--I wonder if it could kill off the good, beneficial bacteria enough to make your digestive system so clean leaving you with all sorts of digestive distress. Now this is my hypothetical assumption and I'm in no way saying this would or even could happen this way as I don't even think there have been any studies on the relationship between swallowing hand sanitizer and your digestive tract. (It would be interesting though).
However, studies have shown that the use of hand sanitizer (the proper way , as directed, of course) prevents lots of tummy aches and gastro sickness. The whole dirty-hand-eating thing--so sanitized hands are key here.
Now listen, I could totally be wrong--and this is probably way too simplified but from what I know about digestive diseases like Crohn's and Colitis--the digestive tracts of people who have these conditions are a little well, "too clean"--without the proper balance of bacteria to fight of inflammation --body's defense against microbes is off--(now I've simplified this a lot--so please consult the medical information we have on out site for more factual information.
Don't drink and sanitize
Here's what you probably really want to know--can I get drunk from slurping the sanitizer?
Well, sort of.
"At least two people have become intoxicated by drinking hand-sanitizing gels, a potentially deadly habit, doctors reported Wednesday. A prison inmate and a hospitalized alcoholic both were treated for poisoning from the gels, which contain alcohol -- but not the same kind as found in beverages.
Evidently people misunderstand the labels that show the gels, foams and liquids contain alcohol, the doctors said in separate letters to the New England Journal of Medicine. Cases of people drinking the hand gels because of their alcohol content have not previously been reported in major medical journals." From the Alcohol and Drugs History Society
Our male co-worker offers this to our bride-to-be:
"So, is it open bar at your wedding reception? After the first 2 or 3 drinks, who’s gonna really notice if they’re drinking a Dirty Martini or a Dirty Purell-ini ?!?!? Just make sure to include an olive or two in the glass!
Need further insight? Check out our Revolution Health posts on the topic.
Don't Drink the Purell
Clean But Sober
See my original post and the comments on this post at Revolution Health.
Gastro Girl (aka Jacqueline Gaulin) is Revolution Health's Digestive health center community manager and is not a licensed professional in this field. Opinions expressed here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health. Ask her about anything digestive-health related or just tell her what's on your mind.
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