THE
HEALTH BENEFITS OF DRINKING BEER
"Beer is proof that God loves us and
wants us to be happy."......Benjamin Franklin.
I’ve never been much of a drinker,
and certainly not beer, but I cook with beer and whiskey all the time -
it makes meats tender and juicy, kills bacteria & germs, makes for
smooth gravy, etc. Our ancestors, arriving early 1600's in Colonial
Virginia, had to
drink ale and spirits because the water was unsafe. I got to wondering
about beer so I put together this little compilation of its health
benefits. Enjoy - MaryCarol
1 beer = 12 oz
1 - 2 beers per day for men
1 beer per day for women
1 beer per week resulted in same
health benefits
Calories & Carbs in BEERS
Budweiser - 145 calories - 10.6 carbs
Bud Light - 110 calories - 6.6 carbs
Budweiser Select - 99 calories - 3 carbs
Budweiser Select 55 - 55 calories -
1.9 carbs
Michelob Amber Boch - 166 calories - 15 carbs
Michelob Honey Lager - 175 calories - 18 carbs
Michelob Light - 113 calories - 6.7 carbs
Michelob Ultra - 95 calories - 2.6
carbs
Coors - 149 calories - 12 carbs
Coors light - 104 calories - 5.3 carbs
Sam Adams light - 124 calories - 9.7 carbs
Sam Adams Boston Ale - 160 calories - 20 carbs
Sam Adams Boston Lager - 160 calories - 18 carbs
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat - 166 calories - 17 carbs
Sam Adams Cream Stout - 195 calories - 24 carbs
Miller Genuine Draft - 143 calories - 13 carbs
Miller High Life light - 110 calories - 7 carbs
Miller Lite - 96 calories - 3.2 carbs
Miller Lite Brewers Collection - 110 calories - 6.2 carbs
BEER can provide the same
health benefits as wine. No matter what type of ale you prefer, studies
show that drinking beer in moderation
(1 and no more than 2 beers a day for men, 1 beer for women) can and
will reduce your chances of strokes, as well as heart and vascular
disease.
It's called the French Paradox
-- the link between the low rate of heart disease among the French and
their fat-laden diet was a daily dosage of red wine. Well, there's no
denying the results of that study. But what the public doesn't know is
that the health value of beer has been known, documented and applied
for centuries.
WINE VS BEER
According to Mr. Jim Anderson, wine connoisseur, "When you compare the
raw ingredients that go into wine and beer, you'll find that wine, on
one hand, is made purely from grapes, water and yeast. Grapes are a
fine source of sugars, fiber and chromium, but few of those things
survive the fermentation and filtering process. Yeast has loads of
complex B vitamins, but again, they do not appear in the final product
due to filtering."
Beer, on the other hand, is made from grains, water and yeast. Grains
commonly used are barley and wheat (with cheaper, mass-produced beers
relying on corn and rice), both of which are loaded with a variety of
vitamins that survive the fermentation and filtering process. And the
vitamin value of the yeast is conserved in the hundreds of unfiltered
beers that are on the market -- both on tap and in bottles.
Interesting
health tidbits about BEER/ALE
Tidbit #1
In November of 1999, The New England
Journal of Medicine stated that light to moderate beer drinkers
would decrease their chances of suffering a stroke by 20%. They also
stated that those who drink one beer a day compared to those who drink
one beer a week experience no difference in reducing stroke risks. Dark beer is better for you than light. It
contains more flavanoids which are natural oxidants that help to
protect the body from disease.
Tidbit #2
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (May
1999) reported that consuming moderate amounts of beer would lower
one's chances of coronary heart disease by 30-40%, compared to those
who don't drink at all. (Beer contains a similar amount of
'polyphenols' -- antioxidants -- as red wine and 4-5 times as many
polyphenols as white wine). This
enables the cells to carry more oxygen around the body. More
oxygen helps better muscle activity among other things.
Tidbit #3
Beer can help to increase the level
of HDL (good cholesterol) in the body and decrease the
likelihood of blood clots.
Tidbit #4
Beer contains vitamin B6, which
prevents the build-up of the amino acid homocysteine, that has been
linked to heart disease. Those of us who have high levels of
homocysteine are usually more prone to an early onset of heart and
vascular disease.
Tidbit #5
A new study performed at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute
in Utrecht indicates that those who drink beer had no increase in their homocysteine level,
but those who drank wine or liquor had an increase of up to 10%.
Tidbit #6
Beer provides a 30% increase in
vitamin B6 into the blood plasma -- something that neither wine
nor any other liquor can do. vitamin
B6 is needed to make haemoglobin, the red coloring in blood. This
carries oxygen around the body. It also helps maintain correct blood
sugar levels.
Tidbit #7
Beer is both fat-free and
cholesterol-free.
Tidbit #8
Beer can help to reduce blood
pressure and levels of insulin in the blood. Beer has a relaxing
effect on the body thereby reducing stress and helping you sleep
better.
Tidbit #9
Beer has proven to have positive effects on elderly people. It helps promote blood vessel dilation,
sleep and urination.
Tidbit #10
Beer drinking can also reduce the
incidence of kidney stones. This may be due to the water, the
hops, or the alcohol, but, whatever the reason, it seems to help. The
formation of kidney stones can be controlled through drinking mild beer
which results in the power of reducing
the acidity in the blood stream.
Tidbit #11
a Kaiser Permanente survey of more than 125,000 people that showed less
heart disease for beer drinkers than wine or whiskey drinkers, and
study from the Netherlands showing
less risk of Alzheimers disease for beer drinkers.
Tidbit #12
naturally contains resveratrol, an
antioxidant that might protect against cancer.
Tidbit #13
Cooking meat with beer helps kill bacteria and germs - drinking a beer
with your meal - might help in case you get some tainted food.
Try Drunk Chicken with can of beer inside - chilli meat fried and then
simmer in beer - crockpot potroast with beer - Turkey, spinkle inside
of turkey, pour rest in bottom of pan.
WHAT IS IN BEER?
An average beer contains the following:
0 mg cholesterol
0 g fat
13 g carbohydrate
25 mg sodium
protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamins B, B2, and B6
alcohol
Drinking in moderation is ALWAYS the
best policy. If you don’t, get ready for liver problems, obesity
and alcoholism.