Beer, the Natural Choice?
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WHOLESOME BEER PULL-OUT GUIDE from the Beer Academy Beer, the natural choice? 1 BeerBeeer –theenutritionalnutritional ‘superdrink’‘‘supsupperddriinknkkk’’? RecentRecent headlinesheadlines wouldwould havehave usus believebelieve thatthat redred In manymany partsparts of the worldworld it iss oftenofftten safersafferer toto winewine drinkersdrinkers enjoyennjjoy goodgood health,health, whilewhile thosethose drinkdrink beer,beerr,, which is hostile toto harmfulharmful bacteria,bacteria, who choosechoose beerbeer areare atat riskrisk of exactlyexactly the opposite.opposite. than water.water. In medievalmedieval times,times, in areasareas wherewhere the HoweverHowever a closer lookloook atat the nutritionalnutritional contentcontent waterwater supply waswas contaminatedcontaminateed with diseases ofof beerbeer tellstells a veryvery differentdifffferent story.story. Beer,Beer, whenwhen drunkdrunk such as dysenterydysentery and typhoid,typhoidd, childrenchildren drankdrank in moderationmoderation is onene of the healthiest alcoholicalcoholic a speciallyspecially brewedbrewed “small”“small” beerbeer which preventedprevented drinksdrinks around,around, knownknown downdown thethe agesages illness and gavegave them much neededneeded yearyear roundround as ‘liquid‘liquid bread’.bread’. nutrition.nutrition. “Beer“Beer is sometimessometimees thoughtthought of as an unhealthyunhealthy EvenEven today,todayy,, drinksdrinks with a highh alcoholalcohol contentcontent drink,”drink,” explainsexplains DrDr GeorgeGeorge Philliskirk,Philliskirk, a biochemistbiochemist such as wine and spiritsspirits areare notnoot the bestbest choicechoice toto and founderfounder membermemmembmber of the BeerBeer Academy.Academy. But,But, maintainmaintain hydration,hydration, as theythey increaseinncrease the amountamount as scientistsscientists learnlearn moremore aboutabout the propertiesproperties of of waterwater the bodybody loses.loses. However,However, becausebecause normalnormal beer,beerr,, it is clear thatthaat hidden awayaway in this seemingly strengthstrength beersbeers and ciders areare much lowerlower in understated,understated, thirstthirsst quenching drinkdrink is an alcohol,alcohol, drinkingdrinking them helps maintainmmaintain balancedbalanced abundanceabundance of healthheaalth giving properties.properties. hydrationhydration(1). BeerBeer containscontains vitamins which cancan help youyou toto maintainmaintain a well-balancedwell-balanced healthyheallthy diet,diet, fibrefibre toto keepkeep youyou regular,regularr,, readilyreadily absorbedabsoorbed antioxidantsantioxidants(2) which maymay protectprotect youyou againstst heartheart disease and some cancers;cancers;; and mineralsminerals suchsuuch as siliconsilicon(3) which % maymay lowerlower youryour riskrisk of osteoporosisosteopoorosis(4). IItt is lowlow in 101 sodiumsodium (salt) and high in potassium,potaassium,, a mineralmineral still wronglywrongly think thatthat helps toto controlcontrol the balancebalannce of fluids in the thatthat beerbeer containscontains bodybody and possiblypossibly contributecontribute toto controllingcontrolling fat.fat. BeerBeer containscontains bloodblood pressurepressure(4a). zerozero fatffaat andand zerozero cholestcholesteroholesterol LikeLike wine and spirits,spirits, beerbeer alsoo containscontains ethanol – alcoholalcohol – which whenen taktakenen in small amountsamounts is thoughtthought toto bebe a protectiveprotective factorfactor forfor 24 2 a halfhalf pintpint ofof beerbeer containscontains onon averageaverage 7%7% ooff daily folateffolaolate requirementrequirement forfor an adultdult and 9% overoovever343 % of the requiredrequired vitamin B2 intake.intake. off BritishBBrriitishi h men TheThe hops,hops, thethe plantplant whichwhich givesgives thethe beerbeer itsits bitterbitter iincincorrectlyorrreceectly bbelieveelielieevvvee taste,taste, areare brimmingbrimming with healthyhealthy potential.potential.. AndAnd thathatt bbeereeer has mormoreree becausebecause beerbeer is virtuallyvirtually the onlyy nutritionalnutritional sourcesource ccaloriesalorieses than other of hops,hops, then it gets the exclusiveexclusivve on the benefits!benefits! alcalcoholicoholicholic drdrinksinks “If“If maltmalt isis thethe soulsoul ofof thethe beerbeer thenthen hhopsops aarere thethe spice,”spice,” ssaysays ProfessorProffeessor CharlesCharles BamforthBamffoorth ProfessorProffeessor off BrewingBrewingi SciencesSScienci es atat the UniversityUnivi eersitity off California.Califlifforornia.i a whole rangerange of healthheealth issues.issues. TheseThese include “The“The hop is an ancientancient plant,plant, saidd toto aid digestion, atherosclerosisatherosclerosis(5), ann inflammatoryinflammatory disease easeease constipation,constipation, overcomeovercome prematurepremature eejejaculationjaculation of the bloodblood vesselvessel walls,walls, strokes,strokes, TypeTTypype II and soothesoothe anxieties.”anxieties.” DiabetesDiabetes(6), gallstonesgallstonnes(7), Parkinson’sParkinson’s DiseaseDisease(8), and dementiadementia(9). In additiona it has beenbeen foundfound NowNow newnew rresearchesearch isis uncoveringuncovering thethe sciencescience toto raiseraise the amountamount of ‘good’‘gog od’ HDL (High DensityDensity behindbehind thesethese legends.legends. ItIt appearsappears thatthat tthehe Lipoprotein)Lippoprp otein) cholesterolcholestterol in the bloodblood(10) which is flavanoidsflavanoids in hops maymay help toto reducereeduce the riskrisk of (12a & b) (13) (14) associatedassociated with a loweringlowering of the riskrisk of coronarycoronary cancercancer , diabetesdiabetes , obesityobesitty andand improveimprove (15) heartheart disease.disease. levelslevels of goodgood cholesterolcholesterol .” Let’sLet’s examineexamine tthehe vitaminsvitamins inin beer.beer. BeerBeer isis mmostlyostly IItt iiss iimportantmportant ttoo rrememberemember tthathat iinn aalmostlmost aallll made fromfrom barley.barley. WhenWhen malted,malted, barleybarley is a iinstancesnstances tthehe rresearchesearch sshowedhowed a ccorrelationorrelation veryvery richrich sourcesource ofof B groupgroup vitaminsvitamins includingincluding bbetweenetween bbenefitsenefits and a safsafefee amounamountmount of alcalcohol.ohol. nicacin,nicacin, riboflavin(B2),riboflavin(B2), pyridoxinepyridoxine (B6),(B6), folate(B9)ffoolate(B9) ThatThat is,is, ifif youyou drinkdrink withinwithin sensiblesensible ddrinkingrinking and cobalamincobalamin (B12).)).. ItIt is these vitamins which, guidelines,guidelinesg , then youyou reapreapp the rewardsrewards of all researchresearch is suggesting,suggestingng, areare providingproviding the prprotectionotection thatthat beerbeer ccontains.ontains. ButBut overover thatthat amountamount andand against cardiovascularcardiovascularlar disease,disease, especiallyespecially when benefitsbenefits startstart toto decline and thehe risksrisks increase.increase. comparedcompared toto redred winene and spiritsspirits(11). AndAnd rememberremember forfor somesome peoplepeople thethe onlyonly safesaffee optionoption iiss ttoo avoidavoid aalcohollcohol altogetheraltogether – forffoor ThatThat translatestranslates intointo ana awfulawful lot of goodness.goodness. instanceinstance children,children,, pregnantpregnant womenwoomen and drivers.drivers. AccordingAccording toto the US DepartmentDepartment of Agriculture,Agriculture, BeerBeer maymaayy justst qualify as a supsuperfooderffoood but oonlynly wwhenhen eenjoyednnjjooyyyeed iinn mmoderationoderraation 35 IfIf consumedconsumed iinn ngside a ration and alo mmoderationode and alongsider will n oa t y liffeestyle, bee hhealthyealth lifestyle, beerB willlam inotng you to get fat. ccauseause you to get fat. e Blamingbeer is eer belly on the b the bbeer belly on thense beer is aacactuallytually nonsense eeighi htiissuessue DeflatingDeflaflflatingg theewweighweight , rounding beer 94 myths sur Only OfOf all the health myths surrounding beer, t of the uring than tha calories none is moremore endenduring than that of the and the eerr consumption link betweenbetween bbeer consumption and the beerbeer belly.belly. of times that t of the number “I’ve“I’ve lost ccountoun of the number of times that es you Index) mme that beer mak GI (Glycaemic peoplepeople havehave ttoldold me that beer makes you biochemist and gge Philliskirk,, ding) fat,“fat,“ sasaysys DDrr GGeorgeeor Philliskirk, biochemist and & GL (Glycaemic Loa Academy. “And er of the Beer founderfounder membmember of the Beer Academy. “And The Glycaemic Index (GI) and Glycaemic Load (GL) ’t true they are itt simply isn to how much they raise blood when I telltell them it simply isn’t true they are rank foods according sugar levels after consumption. Low GI and GL levels amazed.amazed. usually are thought to be benecial in terms of encouraging drinks by weight loss and staying healthy whereas high GI and e other alcoholic fact,fact, if yyouou ccompareommpar other alcoholic drinks by GL values tend to be associated with obesity and the “In ific value tively low calor accompanying health problems. GI compares foods , beer has a rela volume,volume beer has a relatively low calorific valuebeer ydrates ison).. In addition, on the basis of equal amounts of carboh CalorieCalorie ccomparison).ompar In addition, beer (see table y ffewew whereas GL takes into account the quantity of food cholesterol,, ver eely no fat or etter indicator of containscontains absolutabsolutely no fat or cholesterol, very few taken at each serving – a much b ates.” w in carbohydr dietary impact. Although beer in analytical terms sugars and is lowlo in