Is Drinking Beer Healthy?

Beer is one drink I have grown up to have serious reservations against. I really do not know why this is so, because most of my friends are moderate drinker of this drink. I also noticed that my brothers don't like taking it.

Today, we are going to take a closer look at the consumption of beer, this work is void of my personal sentiments about the drinking of beer, it is information gleaned from a researched stand point on the effects of taking beer on your health.

Beer has been in existence nearly as long as man has been on this planet cultivating the land and has some of the very healthy ingredients found in crops.

For instance, beer has the following component barley, malt, yeast for brewing.
There are flavours that gives each type of beer a distinctive taste.

Is Taking Beer Really Healthy?
For moderate drinkers, taking beer can be a healthy option, say drinking a bottle of beer per day can result in the lowering of the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as a heart problem etc. Here are the healthy reasons why beer can be responsible for these preventions;

• Laboratory studies have discovered that beer contains components like Triglycerides that helps lower LDL cholesterol in mice.
• Beer contain a component called Folate which helps to reduce and lower blood sugar levels which otherwise results in cardiovascular illnesses.
• A study on moderate beer drinkers shows that taking a bottle of beer per day can be responsible for the bodies ability to increase blood clotting.
• Another research work also shows that patients who have cardiovascular problems lived longer on taking moderate amount of beer.
• Other research studies found the following improvements in moderate beer consumption; increased mental health for women, improvement in the density of the bone.

With all said, does it mean the consumption of beer should be increased? The answer is NO. Excess beer in your body affects your liver, heart and brain. The liver is the organ responsible for processing of alcohol in your body. When there is too much in your system, the liver will not be able to meet up with digestion and hence it quickly reaches your brain to cause conditions such as intoxication when it distorts the brain centers responsible for judgement, vision and speech.
The advantages of taking beer really has nothing to do with Alcohol, but because most beers contain much alcohol, it is usually safer to choose beers with lesser quantities of alcohol and take them in moderate quantities such as a beer per day.
Nutritional Information of Beer
The following data was culled from USDA National Nutrient database for a serving of beer which usually is about 355ml (A bottle of beer).

• Calories: 153
• Protein: 1.64 g
• Carbohydrates: 12.64 g
• Calcium: 14 mg
• Magnesium: 21 mg
• Phosphorus: 50 mg
• Potassium: 96 mg
• Sodium: 14 mg
• Zinc: 0.04 mg
• Thiamin: 0.018 mg
• Riboflavin: 0.089 mg
• Niacin: 1.826 mg
• Pantothenic Acid: 0.146 mg
• Vitamin B6: 0.164 mg

As you can see from the list above, beer is rich in the following components; Calcium, magnesium, Sodium, phosphorous, Niacin etc and all these nutrients are good for health.
Effects of Drinking More Than A Bottle Of Beer
The truth is, some people do not notice intoxication after taking 3 – 5 bottles. But that is not to say that it is okay, Scientific evidence has shown that while drinking a bottle of beer per day may improve your health, drinking too much will have a negative effect on your body.
Heavy drinking or being an Alcoholic for men is more than 35 bottles per week and 21 bottles of beer for women. Too much drinking of beer leads to cardiovascular or heart disease, damage to the liver, osteoporosis or Arthritis, pancreatic damage and deficiency to thiamin and mild cancer.
Those Who Shouldn’t Take Beer
Just like me, taking beer is not for everyone. Some decide not to drink because of a lot of reasons ranging from personal to religious. These people should not be criticized as all the healthy components of beer can be gleaned from consuming other healthy and natural foods available to us. while others reject beer because of the underlying categories they belong to.

• Expectant or Pregnant women – A little alcohol can damage the fetus.
• People suffering from drug additions or Alcoholics.
• Young people; In most countries of the world, the drinking age is 21.
• People with liver or heart disease.
• Diabetics.
• Anyone on prescription drugs such as Hypertensive or Hypotensive patient and other over the counter medications.

So you can see, while heavy drinking of beer can take a serious toll on your health, moderate drinking will do the opposite. If you are the type that easily gets drunk and can not stop when drinking, it’s better to avoid alcohol or beer altogether.
Even though, I do not personally take beer, not because I fall into any of the categories above, because I’m healthy, I advice that moderation should be the watch word for beer drinkers.

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