**4. Oxidative metabolism**

Most of the alcohol that people drink is metabolized in the liver. First, alcohol is oxidized to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Acetaldehyde is highly toxic to the body, even in low concentrations. In the second step, acetaldehyde is further metabolized by ALDH to acetate and eventually to acetyl CoA, which then is broken down into water and carbon dioxide for easy elimination (**Figure 1**). Thus depending on the nutritional, hormonal, energetic status, the acetyl CoA is converted to CO2, ketone bodies, fatty acid and Cholesterol [14].

**Figure 1.** *Oxidative pathway of alcohol metabolism [17].*
