system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How did people in the middle ages not die due to dehydration from drinking alcohol, given that drinking water generally wasn't safe?
gpt
People were not subsisting on hard alcohol back then. They were drinking rather dilute beverages. Ciders and beers have very low alcohol content and they do not dehydrate you when you drink them. In wine growing regions like the Mediterranean, the wine was diluted with water.

Plus, when you consume alcohol all day, every day, your body grows accustomed to breaking it down; the liver produce more of the enzymes needed to metabolize it snd the kidneys adjust to keep the body in tonic equilibrium.