4 ms·

I guess I should have clarified that I was wondering from a human's biological perspective? I don't quite understand why you are making these parallels to my q

I guess I should have clarified that I was wondering from a human's biological perspective? I don't quite understand why you are making these parallels to my question about any biological positives alcohol. Are you saying that alcohol is comparable to our need for controlled amounts of oxygen? Exercise clearly has some positive biological outcomes (stronger muscles, more resilient body systems, etc.). Does alcohol? And even with getting a fever you develop antibodies/tolerances (assuming you recover). Aside from tolerance to alcohol (which I am not sure why that would be useful) does alcohol provide any positive benefit to your body? I don't feel like any of the parallels you provided were useful to my question. Again, I want to reiterate I was asking a question focusing on its benefits of the human body -- not trying to paint a narrative that alcohol is comprehensively bad. I really vibed with another comment that said alcohol can be a social stimulant and really can help people feel connected -- that's cool and I'm all about that. But I want to reiterate my question: are there ever times when alcohol is actually good for your body?

raverbashing 4y ago
> are there ever times when alcohol is actually good for your body? The fact that we evolved tolerance to it probably means that there's at least a cost/benefit analysis there (see the sibling comment as well) Off my head I'm not even sure how does alcohol tolerance compare with lactose tolerance (something with proven nutritional benefits), but I think it's a higher number
- nephanth 4y ago
  The reasons I heard about us developing alcohol tolerance was that it allowed our ancestors to eat ripe fruit that had fallen from the tree and begun fermenting, with the evolutionary advantages that - they have higher calorie intake, especially if you can metabolize the alcohol into energy - the alcohol kills pathogens that might have infected the fruit otherwise - it probably also acted as a kind of mouthwash - plus, in a hunter gatherer lifestyle where resources (including food and alcohol) are scarce, the possibility addiction is probably not at all as much of a problem

raverbashing 4y ago

> are there ever times when alcohol is actually good for your body? The fact that we evolved tolerance to it probably means that there's at least a cost/benefit analysis there (see the sibling comment as well) Off my head I'm not even sure how does alcohol tolerance compare with lactose tolerance (something with proven nutritional benefits), but I think it's a higher number

nephanth 4y ago
The reasons I heard about us developing alcohol tolerance was that it allowed our ancestors to eat ripe fruit that had fallen from the tree and begun fermenting, with the evolutionary advantages that - they have higher calorie intake, especially if you can metabolize the alcohol into energy - the alcohol kills pathogens that might have infected the fruit otherwise - it probably also acted as a kind of mouthwash - plus, in a hunter gatherer lifestyle where resources (including food and alcohol) are scarce, the possibility addiction is probably not at all as much of a problem