Related topics: alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
hideAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol (commonly called alcohol). Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits.
Alcoholic beverages are consumed in almost every nation, and most nations have laws that regulate their production, sale, and consumption.
In particular, such laws specify the minimum age at which a person may legally buy or drink alcoholic beverages. This minimum age can be as low as 16 years, as in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Most nations, however, set the minimum age at 18 years.
In the United States, the minimum age is 21 years.
Alcoholic beverages are a part of most European cultures, and children in these cultures may occasionally drink alcohol during meals with their family. In Germany, 14-year-old persons may drink low-alcohol beverages if their parents are present.
The production and consumption of alcohol occurs in most cultures of the world, from hunter-gatherer peoples to nation-states. Alcoholic beverages are often an important part of social events in these cultures. In many cultures, drinking plays a significant role in social interaction — mainly because of alcohol’s neurological effects.
Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect. A high blood alcohol content is usually considered to be legal drunkenness because it reduces attention and slows reaction speed. Alcoholic beverages can be addictive, and the state of addiction to alcohol is known as alcoholism.
For more information about Alcoholic beverage, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with alcohol consumption
Drinking alcohol associated with smaller brain volume
Oct 13, 2008 |
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The more alcohol an individual drinks, the smaller his or her total brain volume, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.
Moderate drinking can reduce risks of Alzheimer's dementia and cognitive decline
Dec 29, 2008 |
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Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, according to researchers who reviewed 44 studies.
Loud music can make you drink more, in less time, in a bar
Jul 19, 2008 |
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Commercial venues are very aware of the effects that the environment – in this case, music – can have on in-store traffic flow, sales volumes, product choices, and consumer time spent in the immediate vicinity. A study of ...
Half a glass of wine a day may boost life expectancy by five years
Apr 30, 2009 |
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Drinking up to half a glass of wine a day may boost life expectancy by five years—at least in men—suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Even low alcohol consumption has a negative impact on overall health
Oct 23, 2009 |
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Low alcohol consumption is bad for your health in general. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation studied the relationship between alcohol consumption and he ...
Moderate alcohol consumption may help seniors keep disabilities at bay
Jan 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It is well known that moderate drinking can have positive health benefits — for instance, a couple of glasses of red wine a day can be good for the heart. But if you're a senior in good health, light to moderate ...
Study shows 1 in 25 deaths worldwide attributable to alcohol
Jun 26, 2009 |
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Research from Canada's own Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) featured in this week's edition of the Lancet shows that worldwide, 1 in 25 deaths are directly attributable to alcohol consumption. This rise since ...
'Happy hour' gene discovery suggests cancer drugs might treat alcoholism
May 21, 2009 |
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A class of drugs already approved as cancer treatments might also help to beat alcohol addiction. That's the conclusion of a discovery in flies of a gene, dubbed happyhour, that has an important and previously unknown role ...
New ways to predict violent behavior?
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 25, 2009 |
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In the future, diagnosing severe personality disorders, evaluating the childhood environment, assessing alcohol consumption and the analysis of the MAOA genotype may provide more accurate means for assessing risk among violent ...
Bottoms up: Individualists more likely to be problem drinkers
Nov 17, 2008 |
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What makes residents of certain states or countries more likely to consume more
alcohol? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, high
levels of individualism lead to more problem drinking.
Teetotallers more likely to be depressed
Aug 28, 2009 |
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Abstaining from alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of depression according to a new study published in Addiction journal.
Alcohol's impact on heart and stroke risk may differ for men, women
Jul 10, 2008 |
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The volume of alcohol consumption may have a significantly different effect on heart and stroke risk in men and women, according to a study of Japanese people published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Million women study shows even moderate alcohol consumption associated with increased cancer risk
Feb 24, 2009 |
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Low to moderate alcohol consumption among women is associated with a statistically significant increase in cancer risk and may account for nearly 13 percent of the cancers of the breast, liver, rectum, and upper aero-digestive ...
New study finds daily drinking is biggest risk factor in serious liver disease
Mar 20, 2009 |
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Long-term daily drinking, rather than weekly binge drinking, is by far the biggest risk factor in serious liver disease, according to a new report from the University of Southampton.
Marriage is good for the health: global study
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Despite the barbs of comedians and the spectacular bust-ups documented in the gossip magazines, marriage really is good for you, international research has found.
