A Pint Of Beer Could Be Good For You
Some good news this week for beer drinkers from scientists’ world wide who are claiming that beer can be good for the body after a strenuous game of football or a round of golf.
In Spain researchers are saying that ‘beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water, while Professor Manuel Garzon of Granada University claims that “the bubbles in beer help to quench the thirst and that the carbohydrate contents can help to replace lost calories”.
Dr James Betts at Bath University said “a moderate amount of beer might just be as good as water at helping the body to retain liquid, but that he doubted that it could be any better”. He also said “if you are dehydrated to start with following exercise, a beer as opposed to a spirit, probably does not have a high enough concentration of alcohol to induce a diuretic effect.
It has been now been suggested that a pint of beer may help protect against heart disease more effectively than the claim of red wine and this has been backed up in the The Lancet (a medical journal) stating that ‘the odd pint may also be a good idea’.
After a 3 weeks extensive study with 111 healthy men, each of who drank beer, spirits, water and red wine with their dinner, the researchers found that homocysteine (which is thought to be linked to an increase in the risk of heart disease) levels did not increase with beer consumption, but in fact had done so when wine and spirits were drunk.
Vitamin B6 which helps prevent the build up of the chemical homocysteine is found in beer and those that drank beer had a 30% increase of the vitamin in their blood plasma.
Nurses Studied
During a study of 70,000 nurses aged between 25 and 42, it was found that younger women who drank two or three alcoholic drinks a week have a lower risk of developing high blood pressure than women who do not drink alcohol. (In this particular study, a drink was defined as either 12 ounces of regular beer, four ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of liquor).
Other claims on beer being good for us is that alcohol increases bleeding time, thus acting as a blood thinner and reducing the risk of coronary thrombosis; plus alcohol lowers insulin levels which are good for non-diabetics because it reduces the chance of developing hardening of the arteries.
Beer has been widely used in cooking for numerous years now and many chefs have discovered an array of tastes that beer can bring to the kitchen. They can add depth and flavour as well as being used to replace a higher calorie ingredient. Oils and sugars used in marinades can be replaced by stout or strong ale and beer is an excellent tenderizer.
Old wives tales tell us that a glass of stout a day for the iron content is good while pregnant and this was once used widely before health warnings about pregnant women and alcohol consumption.
Quantity here is the key! How much should a person drink to gain any ‘benefit’ from the health effect of beer that has been quoted this week? The answer is of course ‘moderation’! The odd glass of wine or pint of beer is according to research, ‘good for us’ and indeed, there is that satisfaction we get from pouring a glass of wine or beer to relax or unwind in the evening.