Kingfisher
Many of the studies that document the beneficial effects of alcohol have highlighted the virtues of red wine. Only recently has beer come to the foreground as a health-giving beverage. The published research papers cited below provide ample evidence that beer, when consumed moderately, may be even more salutary than wine
Many of the studies that document the beneficial effects of alcohol have highlighted the virtues of red wine. Only recently has beer come to the foreground as a health-giving beverage. The published research papers cited below provide ample evidence that beer, when consumed moderately, may be even more salutary than wine
Healthy Effects of Alcohol
The overall picture that has emerged is that consumption of alcohol in moderation is good for the cardiovascular system. Its consumption is associated with elevated levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Many drinkers have also been found to have less fibrinogen, a protein thought to be a culprit in the occurrence of strokes and thromboses. Alcohol has also been known to lower insulin levels, which in turn lessens the risk of atherosclerosis, a condition in which the arteries harden.
Several experiments, such as one conducted at the Institute of Epidemiology at the University of Münster in Germany, suggest that beer may lessen the risk of coronary disease. But a number of other studies demonstrate that the benefits of beer go beyond those attributed to the alcohol it contains.
Research from the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute in the Netherlands showed that levels of vitamin B6 in beer drinkers increased thirty percent while those who regularly consumed gin and red wine gained by only half that rate.
Study findings published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition's July 2001 issue suggest that the presence of folate, the anion form of vitamin B9, is responsible for some of beer's healthful effects. Folates have been known to fight cardiovascular disease.
One study conducted at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and published in a 2001 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that beer consumed in moderation aided in the preservation of mental capacities in older women.
A study from Tufts University in Massachusetts shows that drinking beer, be it light or dark, helps to maintain the mineral density of the bones. The leg bones among elderly people are prone to thinning.
