Ok, so even though I am not technically a doctor yet (4 months left), I figured that the SIPS blog needed a little science and health information for all those nerds out there like me.
I was doing some
reading the other day and came across a very interesting article with some different
ideas than I have heard before. I know, I know, everyone has read that drinking a glass of red wine a day is good for your heart/brain/bones….blah,blah, blah, but rarely do you hear much about how beer affects your body long term.
Well, it turns out that beer (and this is only 1-2 drinks per day folks) is just as helpful- and sometimes more helpful- to the body than its more researched counterpart wine. This is good news for those of us out there that would rather drink a brew than grab a glass of wine on any given night- so beer lovers rejoice.
First off, one big benefit is that having a beer or two per day can actually help lower cholesterol by increasing the HDL levels in the body. The HDL’s are the ones that are good and typically scavenge the blood vessels for bad cholesterol to help clear the flow of blood which eventually reduces the risk of heart attack.
This next benefit appeals to me on two fronts; barbequing and beer combined. Did you know that marinating a steak in beer can reduce the carcinogenic forming HCAs by almost 70%??? What this means is that normally when you grill a steak, and some of the protein is burned causing carcinogens which can long term
cause cancer, beer basically reduces 70% of those cancer causing bad boys which means…..steak on the bbq a little more often for all of us meat lovers out there.
Lastly, and this one was interesting to me, because most people think that if you drink beer you are overweight which means you have higher risk of diabetes, but not so. Apparently drinking 1-2 beers a day can actually decrease your bodies risk of type 2 diabetes by 25%. Type 2 diabetes is the one that is basically epidemic in today’s society with weight concerns and usually comes on later in life (basically the body becomes less responsive to insulin). Well, beer can help increase the body’s response to insulin, thereby reducing your risk of diabetes.
SOoooo, all this to say; during the NFL playoffs or superbowl weekend, don’t worry if you pick up your favorite brew once or twice because it actually can be counted as a healthy drink alternative.
