Why We Love Beer? Because It Is Good For You!
If you enjoy a beer at the end of the day, it may do more than just relax you after a long day at work. Researchers are finding that there are many ways beer can be beneficial — when it’s consumed in moderation, of course. These health and social benefits of beer may surprise you.
6 Powerful Reasons BEER Is Good For You
1. Beer Is Brain Food
Various studies have shown that a mug of beer daily may help prevent Alzheimer’s and other brain related diseases. A study conducted in 2005 which tracked the health condition of nearly 10,000 women, revealed that those who consumed one beer a day reduced the risk of showing weak mental ability by nearly 20%, in comparison to those who did not drink at all. Researchers found a compound in hops called xanthohumol might help to fight free radical damage in the brain and slows down the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The idea, according to the study published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, is that xanthohumol might guard brain cells from damage, preventing or slowing down diseases associated with the brain degeneration.
2. Beer Makes You Happy And Friendly
Again, moderation is the key to this benefit. Researchers studied what consuming enough beer to raise your blood alcohol to .4 grams per liter did to people’s emotions. Half of the people in the study were given alcoholic beer, and half were given non-alcoholic beer. Those given the beer with alcohol were more likely recognized happy and wanted to be with others in a happy social situation,” according to researchers from the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland.
Those people (30 men and 30 women) took a range of tasks, including a face recognition test and an empathy test. What researchers learned is that all the tasks were easier after drinking about half a liter of beer, especially for those who were more socially inhibited to begin with.
3. Beer Is Rehydrating
In Germany our sports team ended its tournament at a local bar with a beer. While that may seem like it might cancel out the health benefits of a good activity, science says differently. A Study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition compared how well beer rehydrated someone after exercise to how well water did. The conclusion? If you’re healthy, beer in moderate amounts will hydrate as effectively as water.
4. Beer Provides Iron
Beer is rich in iron, and dark beer has more of the mineral than light beer, according to Science. Iron helps carry oxygen from your lungs to muscles and organs. Without it, you will feel more tired and cranky. Researchers from University of Valladolid in Spain looked at 40 brands of beer and found that dark beer has more free iron than light or non-alcoholic beers.
5. Beer Aids In Digestion
This one may come as a surprise since drinking too much beer can leave you feel bloated, but beer may make it easier to digest food, according to Everyday Health. University of Vienna researchers found that the bitter acids in beer trigger’s the release of gastric acid in the stomach, and that acid is important for food digestion. It also curbs the growth of bad gut bacteria due through the fermentation process in beer which makes probiotics.
6. Once Beer Saved Human Civilization
Without beer, human civilization wouldn’t exist. Twelve thousand years ago, the transition of the human race from nomadic hunter-gatherers to village-bound farmers relied on a secure source of liquid sustenance — and water just wouldn’t do. It was too easily contaminated, too hard to purify, and really good at spreading disease. “The solution was to drink beer,” writes author Steven Johnson in his book about London’s cholera epidemic in 1854. The folks back than might not have understood that boiling water to make beer helped to get rid of disease-carrying microbes, but they certainly figured out that falling down drunk was preferable to falling down dead.
Although beer might not have been the first alcoholic beverage to pass human lips -wine likely holds that distinction, but beer was the easiest to make and store in large quantities, so it soon became found wherever humans settled.
Of course, the downside of drinking too much alcohol far outweigh the benefits of moderate drinking. If you’re going to drink beer for its benefits, do so lightly. Just last week we, at café evergreen, launched our new beverage menu, where Nick selected the beers he likes the most. Beers you rarely find elsewhere, like the Organic Pinkus Hefe-Weizen, which is brewed not far from his hometown. It has the highest taste ranking of all beers we sell, according to the Beer Advocate, Pinkus Hefe Weizen is brewed from 60% organic wheat malt and 40% organic malted barley, hops and water and shows a ranking number 98 of 100.
My personal favorite summer beer is the Schofferhofer Grapefruit, which is a refreshing 50/50 Hefeweizen and Grapefruit beer blend. For everyone who is Gluten Free we serve the New Grist, which is brewed in Ted’s hometown Milwaukee. With our new selections everyone will find his own favorite beer and it’s true, beer consumption has its perks — just don’t overdo it.
Prost!
Annette