Rejoice, Ye Beerlovers! The Wonders of Science Are With You!
Step aside, red wine. Sit down, moderate exercise. And get behind me, low-cholesterol diet. I have a new weapon in my battle against heart disease. And no, it's not chocolate. It's beer.
According to a research team at Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, beer has an anti-inflammatory effect (think aspirin or Tylenol) that "may have a beneficial effect on coronary heart disease." Don't worry, teetotalers...this effect seems to be independent of alcohol content, which means nonalcoholic beers have these benefits, too.
And the joy doesn't stop there! Apparently beer also has anticancer properties and, in contradiction to the conventional wisdom, is not fattening. Researchers at Okayama University in Japan believe that an as-yet-unidentified compound(s) in beer (specifically lager and stout) may prevent cancer-causing DNA damage. (Keep in mind, though, that high alcohol consumption may be responsible for as much as 6 percent of cancers in the West.) AND, according to the ever unbiased British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), beer has fewer calories than wine, milk, or orange juice. Why the beer belly, then? The BBPA says: Don't blame your hoppy friend, blame the pizza you're washing down with beer.
How do I know all this to be true? Because it just so happens that beer makes me more clever, too.
[Links lead to associated stories at The Register. And while you're at it, learn a little bit about the adventure of homebrewing at Homebrew Odyssey.]
Update 3/27/06: An anonymous commenter has suggested that I should "report (for sake of intellectual honesty and for completeness) that the anti-inflammatory effects of beer (particularly the interferon inhibition) has not been verified via a randomized control trial and does not necessarily improve healthcare outcomes (with regard to anti-inflammatory effect)."
For the record, I don't think any of these beer stories are worth their weight in hops. But it does go to show that if you want to believe something, the "facts" are only a Google search away.
According to a research team at Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, beer has an anti-inflammatory effect (think aspirin or Tylenol) that "may have a beneficial effect on coronary heart disease." Don't worry, teetotalers...this effect seems to be independent of alcohol content, which means nonalcoholic beers have these benefits, too.
And the joy doesn't stop there! Apparently beer also has anticancer properties and, in contradiction to the conventional wisdom, is not fattening. Researchers at Okayama University in Japan believe that an as-yet-unidentified compound(s) in beer (specifically lager and stout) may prevent cancer-causing DNA damage. (Keep in mind, though, that high alcohol consumption may be responsible for as much as 6 percent of cancers in the West.) AND, according to the ever unbiased British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), beer has fewer calories than wine, milk, or orange juice. Why the beer belly, then? The BBPA says: Don't blame your hoppy friend, blame the pizza you're washing down with beer.
How do I know all this to be true? Because it just so happens that beer makes me more clever, too.
[Links lead to associated stories at The Register. And while you're at it, learn a little bit about the adventure of homebrewing at Homebrew Odyssey.]
Update 3/27/06: An anonymous commenter has suggested that I should "report (for sake of intellectual honesty and for completeness) that the anti-inflammatory effects of beer (particularly the interferon inhibition) has not been verified via a randomized control trial and does not necessarily improve healthcare outcomes (with regard to anti-inflammatory effect)."
For the record, I don't think any of these beer stories are worth their weight in hops. But it does go to show that if you want to believe something, the "facts" are only a Google search away.
posted by Tom Ulrich at 10:38 PM
1 Comments:
You should also report (for sake of intellectual honesty and for completeness) that the anti-inflammatory effects of beer (particularly the interferon inhibition) has not been verified via a randomized control trial and does not necessarily improve healthcare outcomes (with regard to anti-inflammatory effect).
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