Why are young people drinking less than their parents’ generation did?
By Sarah J MacLean, Amy Pennay, Gabriel Calluzi, John Holmes and Jukka Törrönen on
As we head towards the end of the year, office get-togethers, Christmas lunches and New Year’s parties are upon us. It seems like a prime opportunity for young people to be drinking the night away.
But something unexpected has happened since the start of this century. Young people in Australia, the UK, Nordic countries and North America have, on average, been drinking significantly less alcohol than their parents’ generation did when they were a similar age.
During COVID lockdowns, some surveys indicate this fell even further.
Our research suggests this is unlikely to be due simply to government efforts to cut youth drinking. Wider social, cultural, technological and economic changes seem to be key to these declines.
Researchers...
We’re getting really good at making alcohol-free beer and wine. Here’s how it’s done!
By David Bean and Andrew Greenhill on
Non-alcoholic drinks have been on the market for decades, but for a long time their range was limited and, in most cases, the flavours were inferior to their alcoholic counterparts.
Now online retailers (some of which specialise in non-alcoholic drinks) are stocking up to 100 different low- or no-alcohol beers and a similar number of non-alcoholic wines – with the majority produced in Australia.
What’s behind the big boom in this side of the industry? And where might it go from here?
It all starts with fermentation
Alcoholic beverages are produced via microbes, most commonly yeasts, which convert sugars to ethanol (alcohol) in the process of fermentation.
In addition to producing ethanol, fermentation also leads to other desirable flavour...
Having fun and socialising without drinking alcohol
By ABC Everyday / By Patrick Wright on
Jahin Tanvir doesn't drink.
It doesn't stop him from having a good time with his friends, but there comes a certain point in the night where he's forced to explain himself.
At his first university party, the 20-year-old student says he had "like five beer bottles" shoved in his face.
"I went outside because I couldn't handle it," he says.
"[My friend] spoke to me and I was able to open up and tell her that I don't drink. She was empathetic, and told everyone, and it became more welcoming."
There are plenty of reasons why people might not drink alcohol. Jahin is Muslim, and drinking is against his faith.
Other people might choose to avoid alcohol for health reasons, or simply because they don't like the taste or effects.
It's becoming...
Why do our friends want us to drink?
By Simon Lenton on
Anyone who has ever tried to give up drinking, or goes somewhere and says they’re not drinking, knows people encourage us to drink and are unhappy when we don’t. Why is this? Is it uniquely Australian? What can we do about it?
The phenomenon of people experiencing pressure to drink in social situations has been identified in many countries around the world, not just in Australia.
Research on negative reactions to non-drinking and non-drinkers has been reported in countries including the USA, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Japan, African countries, and Finland. Within countries, drinking norms also often vary from one social or cultural group to another..
Doing what our mates do
In some groups, heavy drinking might be normal. In these...
Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine? No you won’t says new study
By Kai Hensel on
Plenty of us have been there: waking up after a night out with a thumping headache, feeling sick and swearing never to touch alcohol again. If only there were a way to prevent these terrible hangovers.
It isn’t uncommon for us to mix our drinks, maybe a beer in the pub before moving on to wine. Folk wisdom has something to say about this: “Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine; wine before beer and you’ll feel queer.” This idea is very prevalent and versions of it occur in many languages. In my native country, Germany, for example, we say: “Wein auf Bier, das rat’ ich Dir—Bier auf Wein, das lass’ sein.” This translates as: “Wine on beer, I’ll advise you to drink beer on wine.”
But it turns out that there is no truth to these...
Why alcohol makes you feel warm – and other strange effects it has on the brain
By Claire Roston on
Alcohol: why do we drink it? People have been consuming alcohol for at least 10,000 years. And when drinking water was rather risky, alcohol seemed a much safer bet. Amaldus of Villanova, a 14th-century monk, even wrote that alcohol “prolongs life, clears away ill humors, revives the heart and maintains youth”.
Today people will give you many reasons for their decision to drink and most of these reflect the effects it has on mind and brain. But before you get too sozzled, one thing is for sure: it is certainly not a safer, healthier bet than water.
1. It tastes nice
It depends on what you are drinking (some drinks like alcopops contain more sugar) and people obviously have different taste preferences. The fact that ethanol is...
Who Needs A Healthy Liver?
By Dr Cris Beer on
For the first few years that I worked as a general practitioner I had underestimated the liver's significant role in the general wellbeing of my patients. I had learnt that the liver was important from a physiological point of view and that it helped keep us alive, but I hadn't fully considered how it keeps us feeling well on a day-to-day basis.
I had been taught how to detect liver-function abnormalities in blood testing and how to feel for an enlarged or tender liver - all signs of obvious and severe liver damage. But as for understanding liver damage well before any obvious clinical signs begin to show, I was completely in the dark. I had seen severe liver damage from chronic alcoholism and from liver disease such as hepatitis, but...
How To Get A Good Night Sleep
By Melissa Ingram on
Every single one of us needs to simply stop and recharge – regularly! Most of us have experience times where stress is high, deadlines are tight and yet we still seem to be able to move mountains. On the flip side, I can guarantee that all of us have also experienced periods of the same pressure yet feel we are not firing on all cylinders – resulting in lower quality of work being produced or it taking longer to complete.
Allow your body enough time each night to recharge. Start with attempting to get 7 – 8 hours of quality sleep every night. We are all different with regards to the amount of sleep we require to operate optimally, however the average 7 – 8 hours is a great place to start. While we sleep we unplug from our lives and...
A year after I quit alcohol, this is what has changed
By ABC Everyday / By Flip Prior on
"Will you go back to drinking?" It's a question I've faced a lot lately.
I don't blame people for asking; after almost 12 months of publicly not consuming a drop, the question of "What next?" has just as frequently crossed my own mind — especially as we hurtled through the festive season and into early 2020.
The answer? Right now I'm still leaning towards… probably not? Highly unlikely? I doubt it? It's not quite a hard no — but definitely not a yes.
At times, I have had a sense that some people think I've white-knuckled my way through this year, stubbornly refusing all offers of alcohol to prove a point, looking forward eagerly to the day I can pick up a shot glass and knock it back.
But reaching my original goal now feels more like an...