Skeptics Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [alcohol]

Commonly used term which refers to ethanol-containing alcoholic beverages. However, more broadly, the term can also be applied to any organic compound with a hydroxyl functional group bound to a carbon atom, such as methanol.

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Does reported alcohol intake, according to population surveys, only account for half of the alcohol sold?

A recent book by the House of Commons Library statistician Georgina Sturge, criticises an over reliance on data collected by self-reporting surveys in areas where there may be an incentive to minimise the reporting of "undesirable" activity. In one…
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Were there ice-cold whiskey vending machines in the 1950s?

This image has been making the internets circuits: usually with the caption: An ice-cold whisky dispenser, sometimes found in offices. (1950s). Were there really such things? It seems photoshopped to me.
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Is breastfeeding while drunk dangerous?

Is it dangerous for a child to breastfeed from a drunk mother? It doesn't seem to be culturally acceptable, but if breast milk contains roughly the same percentage of alcohol as that person's blood, i.e. a few per mille at most, it doesn't seem…
Filip Haglund
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Is tequila a depressant?

I recently read this Buzzfeed article after witnessing excessive drunk crying. It claims: Unlike other forms of alcohol, tequila is not a depressant. As a source, it quotes Esquire: Tequila is not a depressant. At least it's not borne out by our…
sassie
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Is the Pareto Principle applicable to national alcohol consumption?

I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, and came across this rather interesting interpretation of Pareto's Principle; Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. Can this be correct? I've searched around online…
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Does rabies vaccine have a dangerous interaction with alcohol?

Half a year ago, I got vaccinated against rabies, because I was in a contact with a cat that was bitten by an unknown animal. Better safe than sorry, I went and had my five shots over a period of a month. I had heard before that after these shots…
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Do vacuum wine stoppers help preserve wine?

Vacuum wine stoppers are very popular, but I don't know how effective they actually are. I've been unable to find any scientific results. I have found plenty of people who have bought the products and think they "work great". I've found plenty of…
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Does filtering cheap vodka improve taste?

Several websites claim that filtering cheap vodka makes it taste more premium: Chow - Does filtering cheap vodka through a Brita filter really work? Gizmodo - Vodka Alchemy: How to Change Cheap Clear Hooch from Terrible to Tolerable lifehacker -…
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Is it harmful to sip a little alcohol in the cold?

I read a recent article on ABC News entitled Cold Weather Myths: What You Need to Know During a Snowstorm. In this article, they claim that: Experts say despite the warm feeling a shot of whiskey can bring, alcohol is actually more harmful than…
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Does the shape of a wine glass affect the taste of the consumed wine?

Some people believe that the shape of a wine glass affects the taste of the wine inside. From a representative article: Believe it or not, even a modestly decent wine will taste different in every glass! Some will mute the flavor, some will…
Kevin Burke
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Have the UK official alcohol limits been reduced to a quarter of the levels recommended in 1979?

Before answering the question of whether we can trust health advice we must first ask: ‘Which health advice?’ It varies so much over time and between countries. In 1979, the government advised men to drink no more than 56 units of alcohol a week.…
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Does drinking in moderation with parents increase the chances of alcoholism?

In this thread on Parenting Stack Exchange, a comment was made: it turned out that 'drinking with parents in moderation' increased the chances for alcoholism in later life. Is there any basis to this claim?
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Does the body get rid of alcocol first before metabolizing food?

In her article The Top 8 Metabolism Myths, the nutritionist of Fitbit writes Go easy on the booze, too; your body will focus on getting rid of the alcohol first, before metabolizing the food. Is it true that digestion "focuses" on the alcohol? If…
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Do you bleed more when drunk?

While my friend was getting a tattoo the tattoo artist said you'll bleed more because you're drunk. Is this true?
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Does drinking alcohol improve foreign language skills?

An article in UK online newspaper The Independent has the following headline: Alcohol can help foreign language skills The article reports: Dr Inge Kersbergen, from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, who…
matt_black
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