Beer is an amber-colored drink made by fermenting the starch of certain cereals with water and yeast. It is quite common to find it on any shopping list. We have been drinking it for at least six thousand years; probably twice as long. So it is not surprising that it is the most consumed alcoholic drink in the world, surpassing any distilled drink (beer, remember, is not distilled, it is fermented).
Given the above, it is very timely to know whether such popularity is good for health or a massive mistake. The good press of this bitter, flavoured broth, which is associated with moments of leisure, celebrations and, in short, pleasant social interaction with family and friends, should not prevent us from asking this question.
The nutritional properties of beer
It’s time to get a little more serious and answer the question we started with. Does beer have health benefits? In general (and not so general) terms, the answer is simple: no. First of all, there is no safe amount of alcohol for health.
Secondly, this means that the moment alcohol becomes part of the beer, any supposed benefits are automatically nullified. As a cartoonish and exaggerated example, it is worth saying that playing Russian roulette can be a great way to de-stress. That said, that doesn’t mean that it is not associated with nutritional properties, like all foods. And, of course, as a food, beer has nutrients.
Folic Acid
A nutritional analysis will tell us, for example, that it has more folic acid or vitamin B9 than milk, infusions, and peach or grape juice, but less than orange juice: 15 micrograms per 100 milliliters. This is an essential lipid for our metabolism and, therefore, it is often the protagonist of the supposedly beneficial attributes attributed to beer.
Proteins
Indeed, beer has a “high” protein content (for a drink), with about 0.5 g per 100. However, this is not usually very bioavailable, which in other words means that it will mostly pass through our body without any pain or glory, without providing anything.
Carbohydrates and other sugars
Although there are various sugars that are essential for the fermentation of beer, precisely for this reason, in the end, their final content is almost zero (they have been converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide, roughly speaking ). This can vary according to the type of drink, of course. On the other hand, we can find “carbohydrates”, other sugars, such as soluble vegetable fibres added or arising as part of the brewing process.
Minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients
Beer is surprisingly rich in minerals such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, bioavailable silicon, potassium, zinc, and sodium. In addition, we will find various antioxidant polyphenols and a few vitamins of groups B and C.
In short, the complete profile it presents as food is curious, and it is not for nothing that some types, especially those related to abbey beers, have come to be called “liquid bread”. This is due to both the cereal and the brewer’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is an incredibly nutritious organism, and which is present in large quantities, more than in other drinks such as wine, which also depends on this species.
However, and we will now look at this in more detail, it must be stressed again that, despite this nutritional profile, it is impossible to attribute to beer, or to any alcoholic beverage, any benefit that justifies the consumption of alcohol. With that clear, let’s continue analyzing.
The supposed benefits of beer
We said that it is easy to find a good number of articles about the benefits of enjoying a beer, but always in moderation. But, apart from what the nutrients mentioned provide us individually, we must insist that alcohol is always a source of totally insurmountable negative effects.
Returning to the supposed benefits, the most common one is usually focused on folic acid and its nutritional importance, precisely because of this last issue. There is also often talk of better management of glycemia (the level of sugar in the blood) and protection against diabetes mediated by maltodextrins, sugars whose slow metabolism releases glucose into the blood slowly, avoiding harmful peaks.
Another supposed benefit, they attribute to it, would be the presence of bioavailable silicon, which participates in bone loss, increases bone density and wards off osteoporosis, protecting against fractures. You can also read about the effect that soluble fiber has on reducing “bad cholesterol.”
As expected, polyphenols (antioxidants) that delay cell aging and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease are among the thousand and one panacea properties that are attributed not only to beer but to other alcoholic beverages.
As if that were not enough, you can read that riboflavin, or vitamin B2, in beer improves digestion, or that thiamine, niacin, and pyridoxine (vitamins B1, B3, and B6) serve to metabolize carbohydrates. As a final touch, beer is credited with increasing “good cholesterol”, activating anti-inflammatory mechanisms, and protecting against neurodegenerative diseases similar to Alzheimer’s disease, due, they explain, to silicon. And these are not the only fantastic properties that it is credited with.
What the scientific evidence says about the benefits of beer
There is no drink more bitter than a good dose of reality, some people say maliciously. Are we faced with an example of this aphorism? Science has a mania for wanting to prove and re-prove what we determine as a fact.
Beer and the heart
Let us remember that, among the beneficial properties for the heart, they say, there were antioxidants and a cardioprotective effect. Although there are a couple of bibliographic reviews that associate a moderate consumption of ethanol (between 10 and 30 g daily) with a reduction in cardiovascular risk, the truth is that these fall short in the face of a vast amount of studies and meta-analyses that insist, verify and demonstrate that even limited and small consumption implies an increase in the incidence of metabolic diseases, cardiorespiratory problems and cancer.
David versus Goliath? In science, the scientific consensus is usually on the side of the most solid and accurate evidence. In this case, it seems that this is also the case, and there is no compelling reason, despite the few reviews that advocate its benefits. And even more so if we take into account the ocean of scientific evidence that associates alcohol consumption (not just beer) with obesity, diabetes and associated heart disease.
Beer and cancer
We have doubts, assumptions and potential benefits about beer. We also have certainties, and that is that ethanol is a carcinogen, that is, a reason for the appearance of cancer. We have already mentioned that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption. This is partly because drinking alcohol is a bit like the Russian roulette we mentioned: you don’t know where the hidden bullet is.
Beer and sleep
One of the most bizarre supposed benefits attributed to beer is its ability to improve sleep. According to the very few studies that exist on the subject (and which, even so, no scruples have stood in the way of posting them on the Internet), this is due to the sedative properties of hops. The sedative effect of alcohol is also misinterpreted.
Against it, however, we have a huge, unstoppable amount of scientific texts and health recommendations that go in exactly the opposite direction: alcohol, even in very small quantities, is an incredible sleep disruptor. It makes you restless, prevents you from sleeping and, on top of that, interferes with the neuronal processes that are responsible for fixing memories and countless other brain operations. In short, no matter how sedative hops may be, it will never be able to counteract the harm that alcohol has when it comes to sleeping.
Scientific studies are very clear on this point. Even beer marketed as ” alcohol-free” and “0.0” is not free of harm. And, although it is possible that, considered on their own, the nutritional elements that makeup beer could have health benefits, as we have already said, against this benign potential we have the certainty of the harm caused by alcohol.
Contraindications and harms of beer and alcohol
So, if science seems to be so clear, why do studies and voices continue to emerge that support the benefits of beer? This is difficult to answer. For example, when checking the solidity of many of the studies that validate the benefits, a confusion of correlation with causality is observed. This means that sometimes two effects coincide without them being related as cause and effect. In defense of these studies, it must be understood that clinical research with an exorbitant number of variables (biological, behavioral, etc.) is almost impossible to be free of bias. Sometimes it is extremely complex to identify that the identified benefits may be due to reasons other than beer consumption and that they only coincide by chance or by correlation, but not by causality.
There are also other, less flattering reasons for these results: for example, due to methodological errors. It may even be due to the fact that the studies were funded by beer companies without declaring conflicts of interest, and their rigor is questionable, to put it mildly. The fact that, according to research, abstainers are the people with the lowest chances of suffering a cardiovascular setback on the consumption scale should help us, at the very least, to draw certain conclusions about drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages, of course.
Drinking beer can be associated with pleasant moments, a culture, a hobby or other circumstances that can be beneficial (almost all associated with our social nature) but we can never say that, in itself, it is beneficial. At most, we can assume that the potential benefits of this drink are counterbalanced by the harm caused by alcohol, an ambivalence with a negative balance from which its regulars lose out. Unnecessarily, too, because the positive things about beer can be obtained from other foods.
As for its harm, however, we know for sure that alcoholism causes sleep disorders, strokes, heart, liver, and digestive diseases, performance and mental health problems and various types of cancer. Moderate alcohol consumption is also unfortunately linked to heart disease: hypertension, heart failure, ischemic strokes, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, aortic aneurysm and, of course, heart attack. And the evidence is strong in the relationship between this consumption and the development of various cancers: breast, liver, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colon, and rectum.
We must therefore be aware that, with alcoholic beverages, we are playing the lottery of ill health with every sip. If we decide to drink, let it be without deceiving ourselves, and without fear or prejudice, of course. But with real knowledge of what we are, and what we want, to do.