alcoholic beverage

Any drink containing alcohol, often used for its intoxicating effects. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol), a colourless liquid (C₂H₅OH) is the basis of all common intoxicants. Foods rich in sugars, such as grapes, produce this alcohol as a natural product of decay, called fermentation.

Wines, ciders, and sherry contain alcohol produced by direct fermentation with yeasts of the sugar in the fruit forming the basis of the drink.

Malt liquors are beers, ales, and stouts, in which the starch of the grain is converted to sugar by malting, and the sugar then fermented into alcohol by yeasts. Fermented drinks contain less than 20% alcohol.

Spirits are distilled from malted liquors or wines, and can contain up to 55% alcohol. Examples include whisky, rum, and brandy.

When consumed, alcohol is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and upper intestine and affects nearly every tissue, particularly the central nervous system. Tests have shown that the feeling of elation usually associated with drinking alcoholic liquors is caused by the loss of inhibitions through removal of the restraining influences of the higher cerebral centres. It also results in dilatation of the blood vessels, including those of the skin. The resulting loss of heat from the skin causes the body to cool, although the drinker feels warm. The effects of alcohol may be dangerous. A concentration of 0.15% alcohol in the blood causes mild intoxication; 0.3% definite drunkenness and partial loss of consciousness; while 0.6% endangers life. Alcohol is more rapidly absorbed at higher altitudes, as in, for example, the slightly reduced pressure of an aircraft cabin. In 1990, it was found that women produce a lower level than men of the enzyme in the stomach that breaks down alcohol. The liver takes about one hour to eliminate one unit of alcohol (half a pint of beer (approximately 250 ml), a small glass of wine (125 ml) or a pub measure of spirits (25 ml)) from the body. Regular consumption of more than the recommended daily allowance of alcohol (three–four units for men and two–three units for women) will result in progressive risk to health, and may lead to alcoholism.