Beer Found to be as Healthy as Wine 517
Matt Clare writes "Researchers at the University of Western Ontario (Canada) recently found that beer has the same positive qualities that wine has previously been found to have. The media release quotes professor John Trevithick, 'We were very surprised one drink of beer or stout contributed an equal amount of antioxidant benefit as wine, especially since red wine contains about 20 times the amount of polyphenols as beer.' For more info on how beer helps police harmful free radicals in blood, The London Free Press also has an article."
Some Good Qualities != Healthy (Score:5, Informative)
Many other health benefits (Score:5, Informative)
Just remember..... (Score:3, Informative)
Alcohol is no health food (Score:2, Informative)
Actually, the whole title of beer or wine being "healthy" is rediculous. Alcohol is the most damaging food product you can put in your body. It's far worse than trans-fatty acids, artificial ingredients (e.g., pesticides, food coloring), or sugar. I defy you to find any reputable medical researcher who would encourage people to take up drinking for health benefits. You want the health benefits of wine or beer? Eat some grapes [whfoods.com] instead. You'll get the benefits of the flavonoids without the damaging effects of the alcohol.
Look, I have nothing against alcohol. I love wine and I'm fortunate to live in an area known for exceptional wine growing. But let's not kid ourselves about alcohol being some kind of health food. So put away your low-carb beer and your red wine and drink what you want -- in moderation.
GMD
Let's drink better beer. (Score:5, Informative)
So let's get edjumucated. (and seriously, what could be more fun?) Here are two lists of (mostly) great beers that have very wide distribtuions--go out and find something on these lists that you haven't had, and try it tonight!
RateBeer's top 'accessible' beer list. [ratebeer.com]
BeerAdvocate's 'Best Most Available Beers' list. [beeradvocate.com]
There are other lists, too, these are just to get you started. You can go to both site's "Top beers" to find a list of even better beers, although many of those could be hard to find.
Re:Please define it (Score:3, Informative)
Hey, are you that Alaskan who stuck his tongue to a frozen flagpole [slashdot.org]?
Re:Drink Local (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Alcohol is no health food (Score:3, Informative)
This is also the reason a little radiation or a little arsenic may be good for you.
Re:Interesting.... (Score:5, Informative)
On the other hand, I only need to drink 15 oz of wine to get the same buzz. Wine only has 106 calories per glass, so I'd be about as well off with wine as I would with light beer, though I'd probably enjoy it more as light beer doesn't hit the spot the way nice glass of Merlot would. Shit, drinking a whole bottle of wine is only 500 calories. So drink up, man...5 drinks for the caloric intake of 3, that's my idea of a party.
Re:yes, but define beer... (Score:2, Informative)
It's not a "Real Ale", at least not here in the UK. Given the choice, most CAMRA members would choose something better.
Of Course beer is good for me it gives me a job (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Many other health benefits (Score:3, Informative)
I brew my own, too, and always have some hefeweizen on hand. A wonderful, fruity wheat beer loaded with protien chill haze. And I find the mandatory suspended yeast (mit hefe, bitte!) is better than fiber.
Re:Alcohol is no health food (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, there are several "good" studies--published in reputable journals, with good methodology and solid statistical methods--that show an association between moderate alcohol consumption and appreciably reduced risk of a number of diseases. (Here, moderate is a range from approximately 1 to 3 drinks per day, depending on the study.)
Reduced risks include cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke) and neurological disorders (Alzheimers, other dementias, Parkinson's). There is a correlation with an overall reduced risk of mortality, even after controlling for income and education.
Consumption of alcohol to excess definitely does systemic damage to quite a bit of the body, but there is no evidence that moderate consumption is harmful. Sure, the benefits aren't huge, but for most people there's definitely no reason to describe alcohol as the 'most damaging' food product they can consume*. Only half in jest, I would recommend the Big Mac for that title, or maybe a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Alcohol would definitely be waaaay down the list. Quite right--most reputable physicians and researchers wouldn't recommend taking up drinking solely for health reasons, but no reputable scientist will tell you to drop drinking entirely, either.
*Exceptions include individuals who have a genetic inability to digest alcohol (defects in aldehyde dehydrogenase or another enzyme), or a predisposition towards alcoholism, or a liver or kidney disorder.
Re:Alcohol is no health food (Score:3, Informative)
From Wikipedia: "In colder climates, strong alcoholic beverages are popularly seen as a way to "warm up" the body, possibly because ethanol is a quickly absorbed source of calories and dilates peripheral blood vessels. Their low freezing point may also have helped their popularity."
Anyway, those beer-bellys don't come out of nowhere. Just nitpicking here, but alcohol it's far from "the most damaging food product you can put in your body". Moderation is the key, as in everything.
Re:I think I speak for all of us ... (Score:5, Informative)
(Who hoo! I'm going to get +3 informative, just because I actually bothered to RTFA. Karma karma karma.)
Re:I think I speak for all of us ... (Score:5, Informative)
I concurred. And then I jokingly asked if the study was sponsored by a brewery.
But that's no joke.
"The research was funded by Labatt and Guinness," said Trevithick, adding each brewery paid about $25,000 to finance the study. "But it's an unconditional grant and we made it very clear to them that if we had any findings we viewed as being appropriate to publish, that we'd publish them whether or not they were harmful to Labatt or Guinness."
Re:Interesting.... (Score:5, Informative)
Only an alcoholic would mod this informative.
Any less expensive alternative? (Score:2, Informative)
So is there a cheaper alternative to getting this health benefit?
Also, say you do drink occasionally (say once a month having 6-9drinks) does that negate the benefits of this?
Re:Please define it (Score:2, Informative)
Also good for chili is Black Butte Porter, from Deschutes Brewing. It might be tough to get ahold of outside of Oregon, though- I'm not sure what their distribution is like.
Re:yes, but define beer... (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, Budweiser truly deserves the title 'King Of Beers'. Not the American version, though. I'm talking about the original [budvar.cz]!
Mmmmm.... Budweiser....
Re:Interesting.... (Score:2, Informative)
There were even better deals to be had in those days. Carling's Black Label returnable longnecks were usually available on sale for $4.99 for a case of 24. And it tasted marginally better than Schaefer, IMHO. (Rhinelander was often available for $3.99/24pk, but it was undrinkable by any standards.)
It's kind of odd how almost every single one of the dozens of cheap brands I remember from my school days have been absorbed into the Pabst Brewing Company borg [pabst.com].
Re:Expect the Price of Beer to Rise (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not going to call it the best wine in the world, or even the best bang for your buck, but it's nice with food when one can't afford better (you can replace "one" with "I" in my case).
Re:Most beers have high carb content (Score:3, Informative)
The low-carb diets fall short where they do not discriminate among different forms of carbohydrate. Of all the fad diets, the ones based on the glycemic index actually make the most sense, as it is obvious that a cup of chick peas will be easier on the pancreas than a cup of boiled potatoes. The pure black-and-white low-carb diets are pretty much based on poor logic and/or all-out misinformation (they really do read like pseudo-science, few citations, many conclusions). For example, ketosis just isn't a normal healthy state, and it puts an unnecessary burden on the kidneys. Also, low-carb diets are not repeatable for some reason (as evidenced by a family member who absolutely lost no weight the second time around on Atkins even when being very strict--the first time was very effective, however). My impression is that the low-carb fad started when Atkins made a simple observation about ketosis and ran away with it making millions of dollars in book sales. No one can say the real long term damage done to people by dieting, especially the diets with two-week phases of bodily abuse.
I actually believe that all diets are bad, and that people should seek out eating what pretty much all fad diets boil down to in their "maintenance" phases: whole foods, prepared fresh, , not all fats are bad (many are good), not all carbohydrates are bad (many are good), moderation always, et cetera ad naseum.
Re:Expect the Price of Beer to Rise (Score:3, Informative)
And when you read the fine print, it is by only 3%. I.e, this is 6 points for a person with a cholesterol of 200. So oatmeal gets someone down to 194. Big whoop-de-doo. Just lay off the chili cheese fries and quintuple-scoop ice cream, folks.
Re:I think I speak for all of us ... (Score:4, Informative)
Even though red wine contains more polyphenols than beer, this study showed the body absorbs about equally effective amounts of bioactive molecules such as polyphenols from beer and wine. Beer, wine, stout, and matured spirits (rum, whisky, sherry and port), which extract tannins from the oak casks they are matured or stored in, all contain significant amounts of polyphenols.
As if I needed another excuse to drink [scotchwhisky.com].
No such thing as a healthy food... (Score:4, Informative)
That goes for everything, be it beer, crisps, hamburgers, apples, lettuce, hell - even water [0]. Get it out of balance, and it's a problem.
Accordingly, some bad qualities != Unhealthy. For example, my natural [1] diet is too low in salt [2]. So, the odd bag of crisps is not a bad thing [3] for me. On the other hand, I know someone whose got high blood pressure - a single bad of can push him towards the danger area - it's a very bad thing for him. Most people, are in the middle.
With that in mind, what does this research actually mean, for the average person? Bugger all. The odd beer won't hurt, and hey, has some good points too. Too much is still bad.
May I reccomend, "Total diet approach to communicating food and nutrition information", J Am Diet Assoc 2002;102:100, available from
http://www.eatright.org/Public/GovernmentAffair
for some further reading.
And, if your looking for antioxidents, eat more raw fruit and veg. Particular foods may have more than others, but, frankly, if you are worried about antioxident intake, then either any will help, or your micromanaging your food intake excessivly. The human body is not a brittle thing - we've lasted this long by being able to live on a range of inputs, so just eat a broad range, and let the body do it's thing.
[0] Although, granted, drinking too much water is damn hard to do without some other contributry factor.
[1] By natural, I mean the diet I would eat if I didn't really think about it - just eat what I want, when I want.
[2] By too low, I mean averages 500mg of salt daily. Reccomended is 1-3g, recommended limit 6g.
[3] Better would be to have it more evenly distributed, prehaps.
it's not the alcohol... (Score:3, Informative)
The chemical compounds found in red wine are called resveratrol, polyphenols and anthrocyanidins. Resveratrol [wikipedia.org] is described to be "a potent anti-oxidant (about 20-50 times as effectively as vitamin C alone) and act synergistically with vitamin C enhancing the effects of each. Resveratrol has been demonstrated to have an anti-clotting effect that prevents the formation of thrombi or blood clots in the blood vessels."
The article [advance-health.com] I found goes on to explain why alcohol can cause a hangover and why it is bad for the body: "When alcohol is consumed, the alcohol level in the blood increases and produces the intoxication effect. The body then begins "detoxifying" or metabolizing the alcohol. The first step is the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This happens fairly quickly in individuals who regularly consume alcohol. The second step is the conversion of acetaldehyde into acetate by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase. This process is a bit slower and leaves a quantity of acetaldehyde in the system for several hours or longer. It is the acetaldehyde that produces most of the undesirable toxic effects..."
"Acetaldehyde, produced primarily in the liver, but also in other organs to a lesser extent, readily binds to the walls of red blood cells and hitches a ride to all parts of the body including the brain. By attaching itself to the red blood cells, it makes them more rigid and prevents them from entering the smaller capillaries. (The smaller capillaries are much smaller than a red blood cell and the cell is forced to stretch, elongate and squeeze its way through.) This reduces the oxygen supply to most of the cells of the body including the brain. ( The Brain consumes 20% of all the oxygen we breathe). Acetaldehyde also combines with the hemoglobin in the red blood cells further reducing its ability to carry oxygen."
"In addition to inducing hypoxia (oxygen starvation at the cellular level), Acetaldehyde reduces the ability of the protein tubulin to assemble into microtubules. Microtubules provide a structural support for the neurons and dendrites in the brain and actually transport neurochemicals manufactured in the nerve cells to the dendrites, including genetic material. Without the microtubules, the dendrites gradually atrophy and die off..."
And the list goes on and on, so it's not the alcohol that is beneficial, but the anti-oxidant resveratrol found in red wine.
Medicinal (Score:3, Informative)
No wonder Guinness used the slogan "Guinness is good for you" for many years in their advertising.
However, I do think it's a bit cruel that just down wind of St James' Gate (the Guinness Brewery in Dublin) is an old Hospital where they used to treat alcoholics. You would often get a good wiff of Guinness around that area of Dublin, this must have been torture!
Anyway, I will always love a great pint of Guinness, the fact that it's good for me is just a positive side effect.
Re:Alcohol is no health food (Score:3, Informative)
The Rotterdam [nih.gov] prospective study of 5395 individuals (6 year study, 99.7% participant followup) found that incidence of dementia was significantly reduced in moderate drinkers, even after controlling for "age, sex, systolic blood pressure, education, smoking, and body-mass index". There was "no evidence that the relation between alcohol and dementia varied by type of alcoholic beverage."
Link is to the abstract on PubMed, the original citation is Ruitenberg A et al. "Alcohol consumption and risk of dementia: the Rotterdam Study." Lancet 359(9303):281-6 (2002). The full text is here [sciencedirect.com].