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From the hand sanitizer at your favorite food truck to those single-use wipes at the doctor's office,
从快餐车里的洗手液到医生办公室里的那些一次性湿巾，
alcohols are used to disinfect things all the time.
酒精一直都被用于消毒。
So every time you have an alcoholic drink,
所以每当你喝酒时，
it's basically like microbe-killing juice which doesn't sound so great for the helpful critters in your gut.
基本就是在喝杀灭细菌的果汁，这听起来对你肠子里的有益生物并无利处。
But, turns out, drinking in moderation could actually kill the microbes that cause food poisoning and diarrhea,
但事实证明，适当饮酒能够消灭导致食物中毒和腹泻的微生物，
while helping the bacteria that help you.
还能帮助那些有益细菌。
It's been known for centuries that alcohols can kill microscopic germs
几世纪以来人们都知道酒精可以杀死微小的细菌
—the Greek physician Galen used wine to clean gladiatorial wounds way back in 150 CE.
回到150CE, 希腊内科医师Galen利用葡萄酒清理斗剑者的伤口。
But the ethanol in beer and wine is just one type of alcohol.
但啤酒和葡萄酒中的酒精仅是酒精的一种类型。
Chemically, alcohols are compounds with at least one hydroxyl group,
从化学上来讲，酒精是含有至少一种羟基的化合物，
which is just a hydrogen and an oxygen, bound to a chain of at least one carbon.
这种化合物是附在一串至少一个碳上的一个氢和一个氧。
High concentrations of alcohol—like the 70% isopropanol in antibacterial wipes—dissolve cell membranes,
高浓度的酒精，如抗菌湿纸巾中70%的异丙醇，能够溶解细胞膜，
killing bacteria and viruses on contact.
杀死接触的细菌和病毒。
But a straight shot of VODKA is only about 40% ethanol, while the average glass of wine is 12%, and beer is 5%.
但一杯伏特加仅含约40%的酒精，而平均一杯葡萄酒仅含12%，啤酒含5%。
Even though they're below membrane-nuking concentrations,
虽然它们低于膜加热浓度，
lots of drinks can kill bacteria and viruses. But exactly how is less clear.
许多酒类都能够杀死细菌和病毒。但具体怎么个消灭法，并不清楚。
We know that lower concentrations of ethanol can still make cell membranes unstable.
我们知道低浓度酒精仍能够使细胞膜不稳定。
And they can promote the production of reactive oxygen metabolites, which can damage important cell parts.
它们可以促进反应性氧代谢物的繁殖，这些反应性氧代谢物能够损害重要的细胞区域。
So alcohol can knock out some unwelcome microbes in your stomach and upper intestine before they become harmful.
因此在胃部以及上小肠不好的细菌变为有害细菌前，酒精能够将它们敲除。
For example, there's pretty good evidence that beer and wine take out Vibrio cholerae—the bacterium that causes cholera,
例如，有证据证明啤酒和葡萄酒能够除去导致霍乱的霍乱弧菌，
a disease where you're attacked by uncontrollable diarrhea.
这是一种遭遇不可控腹泻的疾病。
That could be part of why alcohol was so popular on long sea voyages,
这也能解释为什么在长途航海中，酒精如此受欢迎，
and not just for Captain Jack Sparrow-types: it was safer to drink rum or beer than probably-contaminated water.
这不仅仅是杰克船长的最爱：喝朗姆酒或啤酒比喝污水要好得多。
Booze doesn't just kill cholera, either.
酒还杀死了霍乱。
Case studies have shown that wine, in particular, might be able to kill the nasty bugs
案例研究发现尤其是葡萄酒能够杀死那些
that cause food poisoning like Salmonella and Norovirus, before they set up shop in your bowels.
能够导致食物中毒的讨厌疾病，如沙门氏菌和诺瓦克病毒。
And one study on around 80 people found that drinking wine
一项对近80人进行的研究发现喝葡萄酒
and other beverages with more than 10% alcohol kept people from being infected with hepatitis A from contaminated oysters,
和其他酒精含量超过10%的酒精饮料能够使人类免于从受污染的牡蛎中感染甲型肝炎，
which can cause liver disease.
一种导致肝病的病毒。
Of course, we now know that there are also beneficial bacteria that live on and inside us,
当然，我们现在知道我们体内还生存着有益菌，
and you wouldn't want to kill a bunch of them with every shot of tequila.
你不会想要用龙舌兰酒杀死一堆的有益菌吧。
So it's a good thing that doesn't really happen,
幸运的是这件事并没有真的发生，
partially because a lot of the microbes that matter are in your colon, not your stomach.
部分是因为许多重要的细菌是在你的肠道内而非你的胃里。
By the time your drink mixes with stomach acid and makes its way through your upper intestines,
当你的酒和胃酸混合并穿过你的上肠时，
most of the alcohol is already absorbed.
大多数酒精已经被吸收。
That said, some scientists think a glass of wine every night could affect your lower intestines—in a good way.
即便如此，一些科学家认为每晚一杯葡萄酒能够对你的肠脏有好的影响。
Some of the non-alcoholic compounds in wine called polyphenols feed helpful bacteria,
葡萄酒内一些被称为多酚的非酒精化合物能够喂养有益细菌，
and get broken into smaller useful molecules.
并分解成小块的有益分子。
Some scientists think these molecules can bind to the cell membranes of disease-causing bacteria,
一些科学家认为这些分子能够附导致疾病的细胞膜上，
like those in the genus Clostridium, and kill them off.
比如那些梭状芽胞杆菌属中的细菌并将它们杀死。
Or they might even boost your health.
它们甚至能够促进你的健康。
One study suggested that polyphenol byproducts could explain why regular wine drinkers seem to have fewer heart problems.
一项研究发现多酚的副产品能够解释定期喝葡萄酒的人心脏病问题似乎更少。
And another found that they might help counteract some of the metabolic problems caused by obesity.
另一项研究发现它们也许有助于消解由肥胖引起的一些代谢问题。
But don't go tapping that keg in celebration just yet.
但不要在庆典中抱起酒桶就喝。
These potential benefits aren't a sure thing, and they refer to moderate drinking—
这些潜在益处并非必然，需适当饮酒
so like, a glass of wine or a couple of beers a day.
比如一天一杯葡萄酒或两杯啤酒。
Binge drinking and alcoholism are a totally different ballgame.
酗酒和酒精中毒则是一种完全不同的体验。
For example, a fairly large study published in 2001 found that regularly drinking a little alcohol
例如，2001年出版的一项较大研究发现有规律地喝一点酒
seemed to reduce the chance of being infected with Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that causes severe stomach ulcers.
似乎能够减少感染幽门螺杆菌的几率，这是一种引发严重胃溃疡的杆菌属。
But the researchers found that drinking more wasn't better.
但研究员发现过多饮酒并不好。
After a certain point, as alcohol consumption increased, so did the chance of infection.
过了某个点，随着酒精浓度的增长，感染的几率也随之增长。
In fact, the upper intestines in both short and long term heavy drinkers tend to have too much bacteria.
事实上，短期和长期大量饮酒者会有更多的细菌。
Scientists think that large doses of alcohol could slow down intestinal movement
科学家认为大剂量的酒精可能减缓肠道运动
and take a toll on helpful bacteria, which could give harmful microbes the time and space to gain a foothold.
并给有益菌造成重大伤亡，这就给有害菌取得立足之地的时间和空间。
Alcohol can also mess with the genes in cells that line your intestines and stomach,
酒精也会干扰肠道和胃部细胞中的基因，
which can lead to things like producing too much or almost no stomach acid after long term abuse.
在长期滥用情况下，会导致产生过多胃酸或几乎不产生胃酸。
And this isn't great because stomach acid is one of the most effective defenses against disease-causing bacteria.
这样并不好，因为胃酸是对抗导致疾病细菌的最有效防御之一。
Chronic alcohol abuse also cripples your immune system, making you much more vulnerable to pathogens in general.
慢性酗酒也会削弱你的免疫系统，使你在对抗病原体使变得更加脆弱。
Not to mention the whole "destroying your liver" bit.
更别提“破坏你的肝脏”。
If you picture your gut lining as a sturdy trash bag made of cells,
如果将你的肠壁描述成由细胞组成的坚固的垃圾袋，
alcohols and their byproducts can punch a ton of little holes in it.
酒精和它们的副产物能够在上边开出许多小洞。
This lets junk like bacterial toxins leak out, which your liver has to clean up.
这就会让细菌毒素等垃圾泄露出来，你的肝就必须清理它们。
And the harder it has to work, the more damaged it becomes.
肝的工作量越艰难，所造成的伤害就越大。
So a glass of red wine with dinner might actually help you resist some food poisoning.
所以晚餐时一杯红酒或许真的能够帮助你消除一些食物中毒。
But if you go overboard, hangovers will be the least of your concerns.
但如果你喝的过猛，宿醉可能就是你最无需担心的。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow, which was brought to you by our patrons on Patreon.
感谢收看本期科学秀，本期科学秀由Patreon中的观众提供。
If you want to help keep the science shots flowing, order a round on you by pledging your support at patreon.com/scishow.
如果你想帮助支持科学秀，登录patreon.com/scisho进行支持。
