To be sure, attitudes towards alcohol vary also. In France, its value is largely gastronomic. Certain foods call for certain drinks, and children are sometimes given small amounts of wine at dinner. In Japan, it’s part of office culture. Employees go out for after-work parties (nomikai) to bond with their superiors. The Finns famously have a special word for getting drunk alone, at home, in your underwear: kalsarikännit.
Alcohol is also used for various religious purposes. While some religions, including Hinduism and Islam, prohibit or discourage intoxication, others use alcohol to connect with the divine. Drinking plays a central role in Haitian Voodoo and Yucatec Mayan rituals. In Shintoism, sake is known as the “drink of the gods,” and served to them before being enjoyed by mortals. Meanwhile, Catholic and Orthodox churchgoers consume red wine during communion.
Of course, while attitudes and regulations differ, the negative health effects do not. Rejecting longstanding assumptions that the occasional beer, cocktail, or glass of wine was harmless and perhaps even good for you, new research indicates that every drop of alcohol—no matter the quantity or frequency—raises your risk of getting cancer and cardiovascular disease, not to mention neurological complications.
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