Primal Spirits: New Research Explores the Evolutionary Roots of Alcohol Consumption in Great Apes

According to this hypothesis, early primates ingested small amounts of natural ethanol while eating ripe and fermenting fruits. Consequently, their bodies evolved the ability to break down alcohol, and the smell of ethanol may even have attracted them as a signal of high-energy, ripe fruit. This theory seeks to explain why humans are drawn to alcohol and why we possess efficient enzymes to metabolize it.