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Ten Surprising
Health Benefits of Beer.
Day in Health
Beer drinkers rejoice: Your favorite
brew may be healthier than you think. For years, wine drinkers have indulged
without guilt, reveling in the news that red wine can help protect against
heart disease. Recent research shows that beer can also be good for what ails
you, from reducing risk for broken bones to helping warding off
diabetes and mental decline. It can even increase longevity, a large study
suggests. However, the key to tapping into beer’s benefits is moderation,
meaning just one 12-ounce beer per day for women and two for men. Heavy
drinking ups the threat of liver damage, some cancers, and heart problems.
Bingeing on brew skis can also make you fat, since a 12-ounce regular beer has
about 150 calories, while light beer has about 100.
Here are 10 surprising—and
healthy—reasons to cheer about your next beer.
1.
Stronger Bones
Beer contains high levels of silicon,
which is linked to bone health. In a 2009 study at Tufts University and
other centers older men and women who swigged one or two drinks daily had
higher bone density, with the greatest benefits found in those who favored beer
or wine. However, downing more than two drinks was linked to increased risk
for fractures.
For the best bone-building benefits,
reach for pale ale, since a 2010 study of 100 types of beer from around the
word identified these brews as richest in silicon, while light lagers and
non-alcoholic beers contained the least.
2. A
Stronger Heart
A 2011 analysis of 16 earlier
studies involving more than 200,000 people, conducted by researchers at Italy’s
Foundation di Ricerca e Cura, found a 31 percent reduced risk of heart disease
in those who quaffed about a pint of beer daily, while risk surged in those who
guzzled higher amounts of alcohol, whether beer, wine, or spirits.
More than 100 studies also show that
moderate drinking trims risk of heart attacks and dying from cardiovascular
disease by 25 to 40 percent, Harvard reports. A beer or two a day can help raise
levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol that helps keep arteries from getting
clogged.
3.
Healthier Kidneys
A study in Finland singled out beer among other alcoholic drinks, finding that each
bottle of beer men drank daily lowered their risk of developing kidney stones
by 40 percent. One theory is that beer’s high water content helped keep kidneys
working, since dehydration increases kidney stone risk.
It’s also possible that the hops in
beer help curb leeching of calcium from bones; that “lost” calcium also could
end up in the kidneys as stones.
4. Boosting Brain Health
A beer a day may help keep
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia at bay, researchers say.
A 2005 study tracking
the health of 11,000 older women showed that moderate drinkers (those who
consumed about one drink a day) lowered their risk of mental decline by as much
as 20 percent, compared to non-drinkers. In addition, older women who downed a
drink a day scored as about 18 months “younger,” on average, on tests of mental
skills than the non-drinkers.
5. Reduced Cancer Risk
A Portuguese study found that
marinating steak in beer eliminates almost 70 percent of the carcinogens, called heterocyclic amines (HCAs)
produced when the meat is pan-fried. Researchers theorize that beer’s sugars
help block HCAs from forming.
Scientists also
have found that beer and wine contain about the same levels of antioxidants,
but the antioxidants are different because the flavonoids
found in hops and grapes are different.
6. Boosting Vitamin Levels
A Dutch study, performed at the
TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, found that beer-drinking
participants had 30 percent higher levels of vitamin B6 levels in their blood
than their non-drinking counterparts, and twice as much as wine drinkers. Beer
also contains vitamin B12 and folic acid.
7. Guarding Against Stroke
Researchers at the Harvard School of
Public Health found that moderate
amounts of alcohol, including beer, help prevent blood clots that block blood
flow to the heart, neck and brain—the clots that cause ischemic stroke, the
most common type.
8. Reduced Risk for Diabetes
Drink up: A 2011 Harvard study of
about 38,000 middle-aged men found that when those who only drank occasionally
raised their alcohol intake to one to two beers or other drinks daily, their
risk of developing type 2 diabetes dropped by 25 percent. The researchers found
no benefit to quaffing more than two drinks. The researchers found that alcohol
increases insulin sensitivity, thus helping protect against diabetes.
9. Lower Blood Pressure
Wine is fine for your heart, but beer
may be even better: A Harvard study of 70,000 women ages 25 to 40 found that moderate beer drinkers
were less likely to develop high blood pressure—a major risk factor for heart
attack—than women who sipped wine or spirits.
10. Longer Life
In a 2005 review of
50 studies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that moderate drinkers live longer. The USDA
also estimates that moderate drinking prevents about 26,000 deaths a year, due to
lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
These benefits appear to apply in
other countries as well, with an earlier study reporting
that, “if European beer drinkers stopped imbibing, there would be a decrease in
life expectancy of two years and much unhappiness.”
By Lisa Collier Cool
