Kidney patients often ask me if kidney patients can drink alcohol. This question is both small and big. For those who do not have the hobby of drinking and social activities, this question is so small that it can not be any smaller, three words “don’t drink”! However, for people who have recovered well from kidney disease and have a hobby of drinking alcohol or who must drink alcohol in social activities, this question is a big one. Alcohol is mostly metabolized in the liver (more than 90%) and has little to do with the kidneys. The metabolic process is the conversion of ethanol into carbon dioxide and water. The body’s ability to metabolize alcohol depends on the activity of the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in the liver, not on kidney function. In fact, drinking a little wine in general is still beneficial to the human body. Take wine as an example, wine contains a variety of amino acids, minerals and a large number of vitamins, which are necessary for human nutrition to supplement and absorb. The unique organic compounds in wine, such as polyphenols, have the effect of lowering blood lipids, inhibiting bad cholesterol, softening blood vessels and enhancing cardiovascular function. In addition, a small amount of wine can help you sleep, keep you looking good and prevent aging. In recent years, more and more researches have proved that more than half of the patients with kidney disease hang on cardiovascular disease rather than kidney disease itself. Therefore, actively preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases has become one of the most important links to prolong the life of kidney disease patients and improve their quality of life. Research from the National Institutes of Health in 2014 concluded that moderate alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease, and moderate alcohol consumption can also reduce the risk of kidney disease for the general population. The caveat is that it’s in moderation, and it’s wine or fruit punch. From a specialist’s point of view, I do not oppose or support all kidney disease patients to drink alcohol or prohibit alcohol, because the individual differences between each patient are too large, and it is difficult to use a uniform standard to treat patients with different conditions and lifestyle habits. Whether kidney disease patients can drink alcohol or not, my attitude is: for some of those who have no drinking habit, try not to contact with all kinds of alcoholic beverages as much as possible. For some people who usually have the habit of drinking or have to drink when involved in social activities, they can still have a small amount of contact with alcoholic beverages when their condition is under control and stabilized, with wine or fruit wine as the first choice, provided that it is still in moderation. The so-called moderation refers to a small amount of alcohol in the physiological state of stability, after the meal, sober, comfortable, happy, relaxed mood, the next day blood pressure, urine examination is normal. The recommended amount of alcohol is not more than 100ML per day. Nevertheless, it is better to prohibit alcohol exposure for kidney patients who are under the following conditions: 1. The condition has not been controlled and stabilized, and they are taking immunosuppressants and other therapeutic drugs. Drinking alcohol at this time will increase the burden on the liver, induce drug liver damage or lead to changes in the metabolism of drugs in the body, affecting the therapeutic effect. 2, weight obese people are controlling diet, weight reduction stage. Drinking alcohol may offset your weight loss effect. 3, high uric acid, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and gout patients are not recommended to drink alcohol, alcohol may induce gout, aggravate sugar and lipid metabolism abnormalities. Especially beer and fruit wine. 4, all patients in the stage of taking antibiotics (especially cephalosporin antibiotics) to strictly prohibit alcohol. Because alcohol and some antibiotics can easily trigger “disulfiram-like reaction”, which is a kind of allergy, and even life-threatening in serious cases. It is worth pointing out that, for the majority of kidney disease patients, we must learn to deal with their own conditions objectively, not to treat the disease and improve the quality of life between the two resolutely separated.