Aha, that’s why we like to have a drink

Humans have a long-standing relationship with alcohol consumption. Researchers have studied monkeys to find out why an intoxicating drink appeals to us so much.

They looked at the feeding behavior of black-handed spider monkeys. Specifically the fruit they chose. For example, they found that favorite fruits contain an average of 1-2% alcohol. Alcohol that was created as a byproduct of the fermentation of ripe fruit.

To see if the alcohol was simply passed out by the monkeys, their urine was also studied. This way they could see that the alcohol was actually converted by the monkeys and used in the body. Researchers believe that fermenting fruits provide monkeys with more energy than fruits that don’t (yet).

This is the first time that the existing “drunken monkey” theory appears to be proven. He argues that our craving for alcohol has something to do with the fact that alcohol led our ancestors to ripe fruit. Studies on other monkey species are now planned to gather more evidence for the theory.

Read more: Monkeys regularly eat fruit containing alcohol, shedding light on our own taste for alcohol†