American Indian and Alaska Native American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) tend to abuse substances more than other racial demographics, and also suffer from more mental health concerns than the general American population.
In North America, Native Americans have the highest probability of developing an alcohol use disorder compared to Europeans and Asians. Different alcohol tolerance also exists within Asian groups, such as between Chinese and Koreans.
Australians aged 18-24 years generally consume more standard drinks on a day they drink than any other age group. Those aged 70+ years are most likely to have 2 or less standard drinks per occasion.
Top Ten Drunkest Countries
In terms of drinking frequency, France took the top spot for the average number of days that alcohol was consumed, at 132 days a year, followed by New Zealand on 120. Globally, people drank twice a week on average or 101 days in 2020.
The Eastern Mediterranean Region, consisting of the Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa, is by far the lowest alcohol consuming region in the world, both in terms of total adult per capita consumption and prevalence of non-drinkers, i.e., 87.8 per cent lifetime abstainers.
This DNA sequence, or at least in relation to alcohol use, can mean that Asians generally avoid alcohol consumption more than other races.
Looking at the amount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
People in South Korea are the most prolific drinkers in Asia, according to the WHO. South Koreans over the age of 15 on average drink 10.9 litres of alcohol a year.
Buddhism. Observant Buddhists typically avoid consuming alcohol (surāmerayamajja, referring to types of intoxicating fermented beverages), as it violates the 5th of the Five Precepts, the basic Buddhist code of ethics and can disrupt mindfulness and impede one's progress in the Noble Eightfold Path.
More than one in three people with East Asian heritage (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) experience facial flushing when drinking beer, wine or spirits. In Asian populations, it is due to an inherited deficiency in one of the enzymes involved in the breakdown of alcohol: aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Mauritania, Libya, the Maldives, Iran, Kuwait, Brunei, and Bangladesh also have alcohol bans, as do some states in India (India is a Hindu-majority country but has a sizeable Muslim population).
All the countries with complete bans on alcohol (Libya, Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) are majority Muslim. Because it is banned in the Quran, many Muslim countries tend to take a dim view of drinking even if they don't ban it outright for everyone.
Drinking alcohol is considered haram, or forbidden, in Islam. As proof of the prohibition, Islamic scholars and Muslim religious authorities typically point to a verse in the Quran, the Muslim holy book, that calls intoxicants “the work of Satan” and tells believers to avoid them.
According to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), if a substance intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount. Hence, most observant Muslims abstain from drinking alcohol at all costs.
A report by the Italian Ministry of Health from 2015 highlighted that 64.5% of Italians over the age of 11 years consumed an alcoholic beverage at least once in their life, with a clear majority among males compared to females [4].
Aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency is common among Chinese, Korean and Japanese people. Some inherit two copies of the defective gene for this enzyme; one from each parent. Their liver makes a faulty version of the enzyme.
Water is, by far, the most consumed non-alcoholic beverage in the world.
Non-alcoholic spirits, champagnes and wines are not allowed at all in Islam and are strictly prohibited if alcohol has been removed from them during the production process. Because it is often uncertain to know about the production method used, Muslims typically avoid these drinks altogether.
This is due to a deficiency within an enzyme called ALDH2, which breaks down alcohol in the liver. Variations in the genes of certain enzymes cause the afflicted to metabolize alcohol less effectively. The flush affects East Asians, and about 30% to 50% of Chinese, Japanese and Koreans react to drinking by getting red.
Abstract. An aldehyde-dehydrogenase (ALDH2) deficiency is a biological curb on excess alcohol-drinking. This enzyme deficiency is very common amongst Oriental people while it is relatively rare for most other populations.
In fact, China has a rich and complex history with alcohol, with long-established traditions and etiquette when it comes to alcohol consumption. This form of consumption is usually social or celebratory and has historically been an integral part of Chinese culture.
Approximately 46.6% of Muslim students reportedly consumed alcohol in the past year, compared to 80.7% of their non-Muslim counterparts. All of the 46.6% reported at least one episode of binge drinking in the past year.
There is perhaps no religion that loves alcohol as much as the Japanese Shinto religion, which reveres sake as the most sacred of drinks—the “liquor of the gods.” The god of sake is also the god of rice and the harvest, so drinking sake is associated with a bountiful and blessed harvest.