Alcoholic Beverages

Ethanol alcohol has been used to enhance the flavor and effects of beverages for thousands of years. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is a widespread and internationally recognizable custom across nearly all cultures. Beverages can have alcoholic content from just a few percent to nearly 50%.

Fast Facts

1. Legal drinking age in US: 21
2. Most popular alcoholic beverage: Beer
3. Alcohol is a carcinogen
4. Islam and Mormonism forbid the consumption of alcohol
5. European Nations with no age restriction for drinking alcohol: Albania, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Portugal

Beer and Wine

Beer and wine have lower alcohol contents by volume than distilled spirits. There are thousands of varieties of beer around the world, most of these with an alcohol content between four and nine percent.

Wine is fermented from grape juice and comes in white, red or pink varieties. Most anthropologists and food historians believe that wine was first consumed in the middle east, in what is now Iran.

Hard Liquor

Most distilled spirits have at least 35% alcohol by volume. Popularity of an individual spirit varies by location. For example, tequila is the most common liquor in Mexico, whereas vodka is the clear favorite in Russia.

Health Effects

Alcohol abuse has very detrimental health effects, including liver damage and head cancers. Alcoholic beverages can even be lethal if consumed to quickly in too great a quantity.

Most studies suggest, however, that moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial. One to two drinks daily has been shown to decrease chances of dementia, lower cholesterol, and prevent stroke.

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