Beer- Not so bad after all
Are you feeling guilty about having a drink after a long day? Fear not. Here is the good news. Moderate drinking is not harmful. On the contrary it could be very beneficial. Even though beer is ubiquitously received as unhealthy, studies show that beer surprisingly has many health benefits. Beer can protect your heart, kidneys and so on. But moderate drinking (about 250 ml per day) is recommended because excess drinking outweighs the benefits of consuming beer.
Drinking beer reduces the risk of heart disease. A study involving 200,000 subjects conducted at Italy’s Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura found that moderate drinking reduced the chance of heart disease by up to 31%. This is due to the antioxidant phenol present in beer. However drinking higher amounts of beer increases the risk of heart disease. Knowing your limit is the key. Beer is also found to be an anticoagulant. This means that beer can prevent heart blockages due to blood clotting but it could make you bleed easily. When drunk in moderation beer also raises the amount of good cholesterol. This prevents plague formation on the walls of the heart, thereby helping you with a healthy heart.
Beer makes you visit the loo often because it is a diuretic. This cleanses your kidneys of toxic substances. It also prevents the accumulation of minerals and thereby prevents kidney stone formation. In addition to this, research has also found that beer dilates the urinary tract. So larger stones can pass out without causing much pain.
It is well known that beer reduces stress. Here is the medical connection between drinking and stress. Beer is a vasodilator meaning it enlarges blood vessels. Therefore more blood is supplied to your brain and this reduces stress levels. Beer also contains copious amounts of B-vitamins which originate from its malt base. This is essential for various body functions. So whenever you are stressed out, it is okay to have a glass of beer to relax yourself.
Do you want to have healthy bones? Go and have a beer. Modern research has revealed drinking beer promotes good bones. Everyone knows that calcium is good for bones. But little is known that silicon is equally important for bones. Dietary silicon plays a major role in maintaining a good bone density. Silicon also helps in formation and strengthening of bones. Research done on beer show that it has a good dose of silicon. Among them pale beer has a much higher content of silicon. An added benefit is that beer contains a class of plant hormones called phytoestrogens. Low estrogen levels have been linked with osteoporosis in women.Phytoestrogens boosts the properties of estrogen in women. So if you are a woman you have more reasons to enjoy beer.
So drinking beer is definitely beneficial for your health. However excess drinking will result in liver and cardio problems. Too much of anything is not good. So keep your drinking within moderation and enjoy the benefits of this wonderful drink.
