Here’s Some Trivia About Beer You Never Thought You’d Read

This International Beer Day, enlighten yourself and your friends.

Choose your vice wisely. 

(Photo: iStock)

Sitting on your sofa, rubbing your belly and watching your favourite sitcom with a pint in your hand, you thought no one could love beer more than you? Well, there’s news.

People are doing actual research to make sure they don’t feel guilty while doing the above. Yes, studies have been conducted in search of finding “health benefits” of beer. These, of course, hold for drinking in moderation (one drink per day for women, and up to two for men) and in no way encourage gulping down bottle after bottle everyday. Neither do they prod teetotallers to start drinking to improve their health.

They should hardly be treated as a prescription to drink everyday.

If you’re one for studies which reaffirm your beliefs and support your choices (we’d all like to think eating chocolate is helping us than harming us), then here you go.

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Claim 1: It Keeps Your Heart Healthy

Wine usually gets all the credit as the booze that helps cut back your cardiovascular disease risk, but beer may be just as heart-healthy of a beverage, several studies have claimed. Just like wine, it’s rich in anti-oxidants, and has higher levels of protein and B vitamins. (Side note: The alcohol in it mostly cancels out the benefits of these nutrients.)

Italian researchers found that moderate beer drinkers had a 31 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to non-drinkers. For those who consumed more alcohol, either beer, wine, or liquor, their risk “surged”.

Beer helps by lowering your blood pressure and raising HDL or “good” cholesterol levels.

Claim 2: It Can Keep Diabetes Away

Moderate alcohol consumption may ward off diabetes, new research published in the journal Diabetologia suggests.

In the study, compared to non-drinkers, men who had 14 drinks a week were found to be 43 percent less likely to develop diabetes and women who had nine weekly drinks were 58 percent less likely to develop diabetes.

They also discovered that men who drank alcohol three or four days a week were 27 percent less likely to develop diabetes over the course of the study than those who downed all their beer in one sitting. The odds of diabetes for binge drinkers, meanwhile, had been similar to or greater than that for teetotallers.

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Claim 3: It Makes Your Bones Stronger

Don’t like milk? This study said beer may be the key to stronger bones. It found people who drank a brew or two had greater bone density than non-drinkers. But the results also suggested that heavy drinking may contribute to bone loss.

A separate study attributed the benefit to higher levels of silicon in beer. “Silicon impacts bone mineral density in humans, and supplementing silicon in diets increased bone mineral density,” the study correlated. Thus, they surmise, silicon-rich beer may also help to strengthen bones.

However, some experts have said the connection may be more wishful thinking than solid science.

Claim 4: It Makes Women Age Smarter

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that women who had one alcoholic drink a day had less cognitive impairment and less decline in their cognitive function compared to women who abstained from any alcoholic beverages.

The researchers theorised that alcohol protects the brain by improving blood circulation. And while the subjects of the study benefitted from any alcoholic drink in moderation, beer lovers can suit themselves.

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Claim 5: It’s Good for Your Eyes

A dark beer a day could keep the eye doctor away. Canadian researchers found that one daily beer – especially darker ales or stout – increases antioxidant activity that can stop cataracts from forming in the eyes.

Recalling your drunken nights of haze which had temporarily impaired your eyesight? Here’s the catch: The scientists found an opposite effect in participants who had three or more drinks a day.

Claim 6: It Can Help You Recover Faster After a Workout

Water and Gatorade are old school – beer can help the body rehydrate better after a workout, according to a study conducted in Spain. The carbonation in beer apparently helps to quench the thirst and its carbohydrate content can help replace lost calories.

Researchers asked students to exercise, and then had them rehydrate with beer or water. And you guessed it right, people who had a post-workout pint were slightly more hydrated.

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Claim 7: It Makes Your Hair Smooth and Shiny

Okay, so not many studies to back this one up. But haven’t you heard enough people say how good beer is to make your hair soft, smooth and shiny?

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of beer shampoo (makes my hair more broom-like than it already is). But our tech editor swears by his Kingfisher once its gone flat. Pouring that on his hair has worked for him. Maybe it will for you too, unless you’d rather drink every drop available to you.

Studies have never really effectively stopped or encouraged people from consuming something (simply because they contradict each other every 30 minutes). So, if you’re a teetotaller, please continue to be one. If you like your social drinking, go on and feel good about how your beer MAY be benefiting you.

If you’re binge drinking or are alcoholic, please delete whatever you read here from your memory. Choose your vice wisely.

(The benefits described above in the mentioned studies are lost when alcohol is consumed excessively, and drinking alcohol excessively can have a serious negative effect on your health.)