Are you jealous of wine drinkers who get to reap the health benefits of wine? Yes? We have some good news for you!
A study at Penn State found that moderate consumption of beer has health benefits close to those of wine. Like you even needed another reason to drink a beer!
The key to the benefits is to keep your consumption moderate. Heavy drinkers do not get the benefits that moderate drinkers do.
The study was carried out by Lee Huang who is in a doctoral nutrition program at Penn State University.
Lee and their team followed 80,000 participants for six years. They tracked their intake of alcohol over that period of time.
The magic amount of beer seemed to be a little less than `one pint, or twelve ounces. This amount and moderation, in general, is important for receiving health benefits.
They carried out this study in China on a majority Chinese population. The researchers assure us that the results are still applicable across borders.
The study found that regular beer drinkers broke down HDL, or good cholesterol slower. What does that mean? HDL is a preventative nutrient for heart disease.
Having high good cholesterol (not high-cholesterol condition) can prevent heart failure and diseases.
Hence the result that drinking moderate amounts of beer can prevent heart disease. So, go drink a beer for your heart!
This study done on beer drinkers is new. The research finished and got presented in November of 2016.
This was one of the first large-scale experiments testing the health benefits of beer. After this result, you can be sure more will follow.
Studies on the health benefits of wine started many years ago and there is more data because of that.
Some of the health benefits attributed to a glass of (usually red) wine are heart disease preventative. Wine is good for the heart in different ways than beer.
Red wine slows or blocks extra glucose (sugar) intake from the blood, which is preventative. When you drink a beer it slows the breakdown of HDL or good cholesterol.
When it comes to health benefits and moderate amounts of beer/wine, science is on your side!
The study did not tell us which type of beer that the participants were drinking. It is safe to assume that it is Chinese beer since the study was in China.
That doesn’t mean that you have to drink a beer from China though! Remember that the key to all this is moderation.
To get the benefits you’re going to have to keep it to one bottle or glass of beer. The study recommends servings around 12 ounces.
12 ounces is the amount of beer in the standard beer bottle or beer can.
As with most things, too much of a good thing can be bad. This especially applies to large quantities of alcohol.
What we’re saying is we want you to drink a beer for your heart, but keep it to one.
Need a new brew to try? Check out our top 10 beer list.