Why is drinking alcohol so popular?

Agree ayse re todays youngster, my local gym is frequented by very health conscious youngsters.

Our village has a very popular running group and also cycling club.
The members are from teenagers right through to retirees.

Many of these youngsters seem to be shunning cigarettes, alcohol and unhealthy food in favour a health and Instagram bodies.

If it helps the conversation EP, research on monkeys shows that the same percentage of them become addicted to alcohol (available from fermented fruit) as do people.

This was carried out on troops which had access to unlimited amounts of alcohol in the form of beer.
As well as those who just sought out fermented juice found in their environment.
The percentage stayed the same between the group who ate/drank fermented fruit juice to excess, and who were given access to strong beer.
The concensus was, primates have a similar proportion of hereditary (?) Gene's which led to an attraction to and an addiction with alcohol.

Other mammals have shown similar reactions.

But, not everyone will consume in the same way.
I presume because they dont have an addictive personality.
As other posters have said, and enjoy it if and when they want to.

There is a lot of advertising (pressure?) attached to socialising with alcohol, which makes sense, when you understand the lack of inhibition it promotes.

Elvis58 Statistically, the youth of today don’t though. Drinking, especially binge-drinking, is down pretty dramatically.

ElderlyPerson

But you do understand the point, yes? You’re comparing entirely different drinks.

I have the odd glass of wine, whiskey, and gin with flavoured tonics as a long drink as l enjoy it.
I dont understand the youth of today who have to drink till they are blotto and not in control of their actions makes no sense to me at all.
That said l understand the camaraderie of going to the pub with friends so each to their own, l say.

Aah, here’s another with more info than most (ie it’s from Nantes)…
www.ocado.com/products/daylesford-organic-grape-juice-50212011
£4.29 for 750ml (wine bottle size)

Bijou my mother was told exactly the same thing in the 1940s when breast feeding her first child. Guiness was recommended as being full of iron and good for making milk! My grandmother believed nursing mothers needed lots of porridge and a bottle of Guiness daily. She also enjoyed a glass of something with her lunch and said it helped her digestion. She lived into her 90s as well, so perhaps it does do you good!!!

ElderlyPerson

I remember once seeing a book about wine, where there were maps of vineyards, lists of the grape types in various wines and so on, all the romance of it quite apart from drinking it.

Bottles with nicely designed, even collectable, labels and so on.

Yet grape juice was just in cartons, red or white.

I have wondered why a similar approach to marketing grape juice had not happened, books about the vineyards, bottles of grape juice with artistic labels, the cultivar of grape mentioned, the vineyard and so on.

Just red or white.

I would think that this is because most grape juice is made from concentrates. If it were bottled at the production site it’s likely to be very expensive.

Maybe some would pay a fiver for a bottled at source grape juice but I think most would not.
A lot of grape juice is blended I think you’ll find.

There are a few out there if you look:
www.chateau-du-payre.fr/products-1/grape-juices/
- there was one made by Terroir that I’m struggling to find as well.
Lots of the cider makers also do an apple juice - I have bought that by variety in the past.

I really don't like that word.

I wince when a character in a television play or a movie uses it.

There seems to me to be no need for it.

ElderlyPerson Because the process to make wine and make grape juice is entirely different? Grape juice doesn’t rely on the heritage of a vinyard and the quality of grape is entirely different. They’re hardly going to market it as “Well, this is actually a bit shit if you’re comparing it to wine,” are they?!

I only drink at the week ends and not much then but, my, that first sip of fizz in a proper flute is nice.

I don’t drink at all, doesn’t appeal to me, yes I always smile when the estate agents on the house buying programmes say, lovely garden to sit in and have few glasses of wine, that’s the last thing I want to do ?? but each to their own, give me a cuppa anyway, we always have alcoholic drinks in our house though for visitors,I can certainly have a good time and enjoy myself without touching a drop,

I remember once seeing a book about wine, where there were maps of vineyards, lists of the grape types in various wines and so on, all the romance of it quite apart from drinking it.

Bottles with nicely designed, even collectable, labels and so on.

Yet grape juice was just in cartons, red or white.

I have wondered why a similar approach to marketing grape juice had not happened, books about the vineyards, bottles of grape juice with artistic labels, the cultivar of grape mentioned, the vineyard and so on.

Just red or white.

I drink alcohol because I like the taste of a good wine with my food or a gin and tonic. I also like some ciders and beers but only now and again and never too much(not so when I was younger!). There is a lot of over drinking in our society and it's damaging. There are some excellent alternatives now, try Kambucha.

Kgnw28225 why do you need alcohol to enjoy yourself?

I can’t stand dill, even in moderation. It’s not an allergy, I just think it tastes of feet. But I’m not judging the whole of Swedish cuisine because it revolves around the stuff! I just order something else.

Each to their own to be fair but you are coming across a bit superior. It’s not all of a sudden ‘popular’, it has been since humans learned how to ferment fruit/honey!

Most people enjoy a small drink just to unwind and they enjoy the taste of it, there are a few who drink to excess and suffer for it. I would imagine you were popular for providing lifts?!

Jett but why is it brainwashing in a way that other kinds of consumerism isn’t?! And children only suffer if parents drink excessively or inappropriately.

In the 1920s my mother was advised to have a Guiness a day by her doctor. We always had a bottle of wine at Christmas or other occasions and we children were allowed a little taste.
During the war in the Forces off duty or on leave going to dances or the pub and having a drink was a way of forgetting that “our number could be up”. I only got drunk once at that time but that did not put me off alcohol. Although I have never had more than a glass or two.
Nowadays at age of 98 I enjoy a small glass of Guiness with my lunch and a little red wine with my evening meal.
I cannot understand why TV plays show people drinking wine or spirits so much sometimes straight from the bottle.

Great post Amber

Unfair to hounds Rufus
Maw Bless my soul! Is there nothing I can talk about without it feeling demeaned? and if you think I'm going to click on that link, you've got another think coming!
Looks as if you 've had more than one too many and slumped on to your keyboard.
OoRoo

If introduced now it would be tightly controlled, an interesting point, but we all know how well that went when USA tried early last century.

I, like you, simply don’t understand it. Alcohol is simply ethanol and a poison that is implicit in 18 types of cancer and endless deaths from “accidents.” Children suffer when parents drink. Yet the alcohol companies make a fortune on our misfortune. It’s a type of brainwashing, a true waste of money, and would be intolerable if various flavors were not added to it. It has often been used to numb and “get through” difficult times but actually delays healing and ignites discord. Never liked it and wish I didn’t have to “make excuses” just because I have no interest in it. I also wish that special occasions did not have to be awash in the stuff! Thank you for this discussion!!

During the workday in lockdown, sometimes I have a non-alcoholic cocktail or especially nice soft drink like pomegranate San Pellegrino or sour cherry soda just to make the day feel a bit more decadent!

I don't think the social pressure to drink alcohol is as strong as it once was. Many of my adult children's friends are indifferent to alcohol; sometimes they have a couple, sometimes more than a couple, other times they choose soft drinks and nobody comments or forces them to choose alcohol. There are thankfully, many more choices of soft drink than there used to be, I didn't drink alcohol for years, a combination of pregnancy and breast feeding, and frankly the choices then were all aimed at those who likes sweet sugary drinks such as orange juice which I do not. There are now a huge range alcohol free beers and ciders, elderflower drinks and the low or alcohol free wines are a very acceptable accompaniment to dinner when I have decided to be the driver. I really do appreciate the issues some may have if they have had experience of alcoholism within the family, but the majority of us can manage to enjoy a crisp G&T on a Friday night and/or a glass or two with friends in the garden, without waking up with a hangover or acting unwisely.