Latest news with #AnnaBowland
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists confirm that people really do get drunker in the summer than winter
It's the time of year characterised by longer days, warmer weather and plenty of beer gardens. And there's nothing quite like enjoying a few refreshing drinks in the summer sun. But they can – inevitably – come with questionable decisions and raging hangovers. Now, experts have confirmed people really do get drunker in the summer than winter. It could go some way to explaining why typical summer drinks – such as Aperol Spritzes and prosecco – hit you harder than those more commonly enjoyed in winter, such as red wine and hot toddies. Nagoya University researchers in Japan set out to find whether alcohol tolerance and carbohydrate metabolism change with the seasons. To test for changes in alcohol tolerance, the team reared mice under winter and summer conditions. They found that mice reared under winter conditions recovered from alcohol intoxication more quickly. 'This result suggests that the body is more likely to become intoxicated in the summer,' Professor Takashi Yoshimura said. 'This was an interesting discovery as this may explain why the number of patients hospitalized for acute alcohol intoxication is higher in the summer in most countries.' They also investigated more than 54,000 genes in 80 tissues in monkeys across one year. The team specifically looked at rhesus monkeys – a primate closely related to humans. They discovered an unexpected difference in how the male and female bodies dealt with carbohydrate metabolism throughout the year. Although the monkeys were fed the same diet across the 12 months, the activity of genes involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates peaked during winter and spring in the duodenum – the first part of the small intestine – of the female monkeys. Increased carbohydrate metabolism in the duodenum is important for the body to extract the maximum amount of energy from scarce food in the winter months, which may explain why people often gain weight during this period, the team said. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, add further insight into how animals, including humans, have evolved a biological clock that is calibrated to the seasons. Physiology and behaviour, including hormone secretion, metabolism, sleep, immune function, and reproduction, change depending on the time of year. A recent study found that wild chimpanzees love getting drunk with their friends – in a similar way to humans do. Scientists from the University of Exeter filmed wild chimpanzees eating and sharing fruit containing alcohol for the first time. According to the experts, this suggests that alcohol may have benefits for social bonding in chimps - just like humans. 'For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation,' explained Anna Bowland, an author of the study. 'We also know that sharing alcohol – including through traditions such as feasting – helps to form and strengthen social bonds. 'So – now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits – the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?' WHAT TO EAT TO BEAT A HANGOVER Forget the traditional morning-after fry-up: to survive alcohol's effects, you need to support your liver and digestive system long-term, experts say. Fibre not only keeps your gut moving, it also binds onto toxins and escorts them out of the body, and is great for the liver. Eat kidney beans, brown rice, oats, rye, apples and plums. Foods rich in antioxidants help liver detoxification and heal the gut wall. Plant sources include beetroot, berries, garlic, grapes, green tea, kale, onions, peppers, prunes, tomatoes and watercress. Soothe an irritated stomach with mint tea or avocado. Alternatively, soak golden flax seeds and chia seeds overnight in enough water to cover them, then add them to smoothies or cereals — they produce a mucilage to coat and protect the gut wall. Research has shown that the herb milk thistle (200–300mg daily) can be used to support liver health. Look for a blend at a health food shop, which might include other herbs such as dandelion and artichoke. Other stomach-soothing and supportive supplements include turmeric as an anti-inflammatory, or the antioxidant glutathione, which helps to feed and heal gut cells.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Wild Chimps Caught on Camera Sharing Alcoholic Fruit
Remote cameras in Africa have captured the first images and video of wild chimpanzees eating and sharing fermented fruit that contains alcohol. Bonding over alcoholic drinks is an ancient human tradition, and this exciting discovery hints it might be even older – and less unique to us – than we thought. The intriguing similarity observed in our closest living relatives suggests our history of alcohol consumption could date back to before our species existed. "Sharing alcohol – including through traditions such as feasting – helps to form and strengthen social bonds," says first author and primatologist Anna Bowland, from the University of Exeter in the UK. "So, now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits, the question is: Could they be getting similar benefits?" Bowland and her colleagues from the UK, Canada, and the US studied western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) living in Guinea-Bissau's Cantanhez National Park. These chimps are not habituated to researchers, so the study authors set up motion-activated cameras at three locations to record their natural behavior. The footage revealed chimps not only feeding on fermented African breadfruit (Treculia africana), but also passively sharing it with one another. Testing later confirmed the specific fruits contained ethanol. Humans have a long history of drinking and sharing alcohol, with evidence of deliberately fermented beverages dating back at least to Neolithic times, where it may have offered benefits related to social bonding like it does today. Even before ancient humans figured out how to make alcohol themselves, they likely capitalized on what they found in naturally fermented fruits, just as these wild chimpanzees seem to be doing. "For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation," says Bowland. It remains unclear whether chimps purposely seek out alcohol – and, if so, why. Chimps were filmed sharing fermented fruits on 10 separate occasions, with the sharing occurring among 17 individual chimps – including members of both sexes and every age category. This was mostly 'passive' sharing, in which a chimp who possessed fruit let others feed from it, but there was also one case of 'active-passive' sharing, in which a chimp let another chimp take some fruit from its mouth. Chimps with fruit showed no apprehension about sharing, and there were no observations of chimps sharing their fruit under pressure. Testing found that 90 percent of shared fruits contained ethanol at the time of consumption, with the content ranging from 0.01 to 0.6 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). That's pretty low by human standards – beer is typically at least 4 percent ABV, while wine commonly falls between 10 and 15 percent, and liquor may be 40 percent ABV or higher. But fruit constitutes the vast majority of a chimpanzee's diet, and since they seem to show a preference for riper fruits, wild chimps could end up consuming a significant amount of alcohol. "Chimps don't share food all the time, so this behaviour with fermented fruit might be important," says University of Exeter biological anthropologist Kimberley Hockings. They probably don't usually get drunk, a vulnerable condition few wild animals can afford, and the effect of alcohol on their metabolism is unknown. The team points to previous findings that about 10 million years ago, a molecular adaptation in a common ancestor of African great apes "endowed our ancestors with a markedly enhanced ability to metabolize ethanol." This coincided approximately with our ancestors' shift from arboreal to terrestrial lifestyles and may have been particularly valuable for life on forest floors – where older, riper, more fermented fruit is abundant. Alcohol consumption thus seems to be older than humanity, since the genus Homo likely evolved within the last 3 million years, and our species only dates back about 300,000 years. Booze may have ancient roots not just for us, but also for closely related apes like chimpanzees. "We need to find out more about whether they deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolise it, but this behaviour could be the early evolutionary stages of 'feasting,'" Hockings says. "If so, it suggests the human tradition of feasting may have its origins deep in our evolutionary history." The study was published in Current Biology. Earth's Rotation Is Slowing Down, And It Could Explain Why We Have Oxygen This Single-Celled Microbe Can Transform Into a Multicellular Creature Scientists Spotted Signs of a Hidden Structure Inside Earth's Core
New York Post
26-04-2025
- Science
- New York Post
Monkeying around: Wild chimps caught on camera sharing boozy fruit
These chimps were a barrel of laughs. Wild chimpanzees in West Africa were caught on video for the very first time sharing fermented African breadfruit that contained ethanol. Researchers from the University of Exeter in England set up cameras at Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau. The primates may have been using the alcohol like humans do, the team said in their report published in the science journal Current Biology. 'For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation,' ecologist Anna Bowland, lead author of the study, said in a report from the university. A research team from the University of Exeter set up the cameras, which caught the chimps sharing the alcoholic fruit. Anna Bowland / Cantanhez Chimpanzee Project / University of Exeter 'We also know that sharing alcohol – including through traditions such as feasting – helps to form and strengthen social bonds.' The creatures were filmed 10 times indulging in the boozy fruit, which contained 0.61% ABV [alcohol by volume], which is relatively low — so researchers concluded the chimps were unlikely to actually get drunk. The group is using the discovery to do further research into the animals' drinking habits and whether or not they are rooted in early evolutionary history. The creatures were filmed a total of 10 times indulging in the boozy fruit. Anna Bowland / Cantanhez Chimpanzee Project / University of Exeter 'Chimps don't share food all the time, so this behavior with fermented fruit might be important,' Dr. Kimberley Hockings, a researcher at the University of Exeter, said in the report. 'We need to find out more about whether they deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolize it, but this behavior could be the early evolutionary stages of feasting.'
NDTV
24-04-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Video: Wild Chimps Share Boozy Fruit, Hinting At Alcohol-Fuelled Social Bonding
In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of Exeter have documented wild chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau's Cantanhez National Park consuming and sharing fermented African breadfruit (Treculia africana). This behaviour, captured on motion-activated cameras over ten separate occasions, marks the first recorded instance of wild chimpanzees engaging in the communal consumption of naturally alcoholic food. The findings lend support to the "drunken monkey hypothesis", which posits that the attraction to fermented fruit provided evolutionary advantages by offering high-energy food sources. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, opens new avenues for understanding the evolutionary origins of social drinking and the role of naturally occurring ethanol in primate social systems. Watch the video here: Zoologists have captured for the first time a "drinking session" of chimpanzees The primates found a quiet spot and shared fermented breadfruit with each other. Yes, it contains alcohol. — Based & Viral (@ViralBased) April 22, 2025 "For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation," said Anna Bowland from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "We also know that sharing alcohol - including through traditions such as feasting - helps to form and strengthen social bonds. "So - now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits - the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?" The researchers used motion-activated cameras, which filmed chimps sharing fermented fruits on 10 separate occasions. "Chimps don't share food all the time, so this behaviour with fermented fruit might be important," said Dr Kimberley Hockings, also from the University of Exeter. "We need to find out more about whether they deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolise it, but this behaviour could be the early evolutionary stages of 'feasting'. "If so, it suggests the human tradition of feasting may have its origins deep in our evolutionary history."
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Science
- Perth Now
Chimps filmed boozing with their pals
Chimpanzees enjoy getting drunk with their friends. Experts at the University of Exeter have filmed the primates eating and sharing fruit containing alcohol for the first time and suggest that booze has benefits for social bonding in the animals - just as it does in humans. The boffins spotted the boozy chimpanzees at Cantanhez National Park in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau and they were filmed on 10 separate occasions sharing fermented African breadfruit, a fruit that is known to contain alcohol. Anna Bowland, an author of the study, said: "For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation. "We also know that sharing alcohol - including through traditions such as feasting - helps to form and strengthen social bonds. "So - now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits - the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?"
