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“Older people consume more wine”, teenagers and young adults drink beer and younger people drink spirits (shots), said the public health doctor in the parliamentary subcommittee on Global Health, where he was heard together with the director general of the SICAD, Joao Goulao.
He noted, however, that in Portugal, contrary to the rest of Europe, spirits are “consumed very little”, representing about 10%, while wine totals 60% and the rest is beer consumption.
Manuel Cardoso said that until 2015 Portugal was making “some gains in health and some gains in terms of consumption”, but in recent years “this seems not to have happened”.
“Portugal is one of the countries with the highest 'per capita' consumption of alcohol in world terms”, he clarified, adding that the average consumption of litres of pure alcohol per inhabitant had fallen slightly, having reached 11.9 in 2015, a value that rose to 12.1 in 2019.
Manuel Cardoso revealed that, according to the general population survey, in 2012, 60% of the Portuguese had consumed alcohol, a figure that increased to 61.5% in 2022.
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Nanny state "health experts" trying to get people to drink less. Let us have our wine. Life is hard enough without constantly being scrutinised by puritans.
By Jeff BB from Beiras on 12 May 2023, 15:43
Not so much Jeff; don't blur the line about a word of caution from professionals witnessing the rapid uptick of "drink driving" and the accidents, injuries and deaths related to the amount of alcohol. Drink all you candle but then take the Metro, Uber or a taxi. They're just making us aware and trying to keep everyone safe by doing just that; stop and think next time you get behind the wheel.
By Wes from USA on 13 May 2023, 03:31
It proves my point. It's not the Portugues !!!!!! who drink the wine it's the Drunken expats and tourist that are the ones. !!!!!!!!!!!
By J from Lisbon on 13 May 2023, 06:30
I could say this in first year here w/o making a research, just driving here :)
By SS from Porto on 13 May 2023, 07:53
Nothing to be proud of, for sure. Given lack of public transport and poor infrastructure in many areas of the country this is not a good thing.
By Stuart Wood from Algarve on 14 May 2023, 08:02
So J from Lisbon comments that it's not the Portugues who are the,'culprits',but the drunken expats and tourists. I live in a large wine growing area and love the local vinho tinto.. Neither my self,(expat), nor my Potugues friends and neighbours fit your category. Lighten up will you?
By Les from Beiras on 15 May 2023, 11:06
I go with Les. Both my Portuguese friends and I (expat) love drinking our wine, and none of us are going to trade that simple pleasure. Granted, none of us then climb into cars to see how fast we can get home either, a good point to be made.
Part of the reason i came to Portugal, hospitable people, easy to share a glass of wine with, and the quality of both is lovely.
Sure, some people will overdo it and that's a fact everywhere, so let us not apportion blame until the facts are in - there were none in the article which stated how many expats or Portuguese were caught for drunken driving.
By Tony Williams from Other on 15 May 2023, 15:10
"Pure alcohol" is not a meaningful term. Is the nation all on methylated spirits?
Interesting stats.
By Hugh IN the Alentejo from Alentejo on 16 May 2023, 11:35
J, I'll let all the old Portuguese in my village, who drink wine before 10 am, I'll let them all know that the mighty, all seeing and all knowing J says they're not Portuguese. Because Portuguese people don't drink wine at all. No. They don't make wine. Those bottles they have on their tables for Almoço and Jantar is all just blueberry juice. You're delusional, J, delusional.
By Jeff BB from Beiras on 16 May 2023, 22:28
This is no surprise as Portugal has the best vineyards and wines in the world. People from all over the world love our Portuguese wine, especially Port.
By Lisa from Other on 16 May 2023, 23:14
I moved here from California, where wine is a "luxury item". Here the wines are actually better in my opinion for a fraction of the cost. The Portuguese know how to blend several varietals into something so damn good. There's so many interesting grapes here as well. The inky Alicante Bouschet thrives in Alentejo and is the grape with the highest polyphenol levels, because of the purple meat inside... this makes it even healthier. Southern Europeans have a longer life span anyway and maybe the wine has something to do with it. Russians drink vodka like wine and the average male life span is 65. Portuguese live around 15 years longer... must be the polyphenols in their wine, plus olive oil, sun and seafood . I say drink up... Saúde!
By Roberto from Lisbon on 20 May 2023, 02:24