Beer Benefits: Everyone's 'Favorite' Alcoholic Beverage May Actually be Good For You?
Drinking beer is one of the best social gatherings of many people worldwide. The satisfaction drinkers experience in beer doesn't account to what more this beverage can actually do well for you.
Here are facts that may tell what beer can do for your health:
Freebase said beer is the world's most widely consumed alcoholic beverage. It is the third most popular drink gloabally after water and tea. It is thought by some as the oldest fermented beverage.
Beer is produced by the saccharification (breaking into sugars) of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. Most beers come in many flavors depending which country they were developed. Aside from the long "happy hours," prolonged "beer curls," and all the fun beer graciously provides, there are more awesome scientifically researched benefits for the good brew:
1. Like red wine's heart-healthy benefits, beer has the same effects. According to Men's Health, Italian researchers found moderate beer drinkers had a 42 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to non-drinkers. For a balanced healthy use, it is advised to drink only a pint of the brew per day.
2. Beer slightly increases problem solving capabilities for drinkers. According to Consciousness and Cognition journal, men with more blood alcohol content in the body solved puzzles faster.
3. It helps the kidneys to function better. Researchers in Finland said one bottle of beer a day reduces the risk of developing kidney stones by 40 percent. Researchers added the hops (ingredients) found in beer slow the release of calcium from the bones. This prevents the kidneys to absorb them to become kidney stones.
4. Beer also helps in hydration after workout. In a Spanish study, the research participants were asked to work out and afterward rehydrate with beer. The beer drinkers were shown more hydrated. An issue may arise though with drinkers being too "wasted" to even execute exercises properly.
5. Canadian researchers discovered one beer a day (preferably larger) may raise antioxidant activity that can prevent cataracts. This discovery may badly backfire though if drinkers will drink three or more drinks a day.
6. Beer may reduce blood pressure and the risk of having hypertension. In the study, beer also has more blood pressure-lowering effects than wine.
7. According to eatright.com, beer is also a good source of B vitamins such as folate, niacin and riboflavin, pantothenic acid, and Vitamins B6 and B12. These nutrients keep your heart healthy by decreasing damage to the arteries.
8. A healthy dose of two beers a day increases bone density up to 4.5 percent. The downside to this benefit is when drinkers drink more than two mugs a day, as it reverses its bone-improving effects.