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ArnooBrew

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Who here is slightly concerned about the health impacts of regular beer consumption, given the calories?

A nutritionist friend says that drinking wine is healthier, given the antioxidants, particularly in red wine, but frankly I just like beer better, and I can brew my own high quality brew and get such satisfaction from it. But still ... the health niggle remains.

What does everyone else think?
 
I subbed out second dinner and fast food so I can drink more and not go over what I like for calories.
 
Everything in moderation. There are plenty of studies about people who drink a couple alcoholic beverages a night and they live longer lives than the non drinkers. Now sometimes I drink too much, but everyone has things they do that negatively affect their health.

Also, what is a niggle?
 
Everything in moderation. There are plenty of studies about people who drink a couple alcoholic beverages a night and they live longer lives than the non drinkers. Now sometimes I drink too much, but everyone has things they do that negatively affect their health.

Also, what is a niggle?

Good advice.

Niggle = nitpick. To argue over a small item.
 
Ferment with Streptomyces. It will produce a green colored sour beer spiked with tetracycline. The antibiotic beer of ancient Egypt.

Wine isn't going to cure your acne or that festering sore on your foot, but beer can!
 
You could make some high quality wine yourself too and substitute that out a couple nights a week....If it would make you feel better. The kits are a great value for what you get.
 
If you have one (women) or two (men) beers (regular strength) a day and take the calories into account elsewhere in your diet (calories in) or exercise routine (calories out) then you shouldn't worry too much. Check out page 30 of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This is the most up to date set of recommendations and it's based on findings with enough evidence to be widely accepted (there will always be new studies but until findings are rigorously evaluated and confirmed, you're going on faith alone).
 
The value of antioxidants is overstated. You are better off with some, but if you consume more than you need you just piss them out. And it's not hard to get enough. Eat any fruit? You're probably all set.

Claims of "super antioxidants" are obviously false because if they were true, they would be toxic.

All things in moderation. Even moderation.

There is also a claim that polyphenols in wine make the cholesterol in your blood less likely to plate out, but the major factor in whether your cholesterol plates out is - stress.

And anyway, hops contain plenty of polyphenols.

Tell your nutritionist friend that dark beers contain lots of antioxidants.

relax. don't worry. have a homebrew. Probably an imperial stout.

Also, you're getting tons of B vitamins from the yeast.
 
Oh boy...

Must

back

away.

Hey Doc! You're coming around, man!!!

I'd venture to guess that most of these kinds of questions are meant to be more of a "conversation starter" than a source of very serious advice.

That said, and I know it is sort of off the track of the OP, but briefly what is your opinion about the comment that said plaque is more of a stress issue than diet? That hits closer to home for me.

I tell ya what, reading this thread makes me realize that my two homebrews many nights are probably excessive. The repeated reference to "two regular drinks" for men certainly doesn't equal two of my home brews (which sometimes might actually mean two bombers... ouch!). Honestly I was about to pop another, but after reading this, I think I'll pass... Tomorrow is another day.
 
I have two very basic problems with a lot of medical dietary advice.

1: It is supremely fallacious to take an observation of a complex system under specific circumstances and extrapolate a scalar method from it.

2: A lot of it smacks of basic dishonesty. Example: The reason that whole grains, especially poorly processed grains, impart less carbohydrates to your blood stream, is because a smaller percentage of the product by mass is carbohydrate, and the chunks are bigger, and you are not a ruminant, have a single-chambered stomach, do not chew your cud, and as such end up pooing out a lot of the bigger chunks undigested. This does not mean that processed grains are "bad".
 
The value of antioxidants is overstated. You are better off with some, but if you consume more than you need you just piss them out. And it's not hard to get enough. Eat any fruit? You're probably all set.
Most Americans don't consume enough fruit/vegitables; interestingly, coffee is the primary source of antioxidants in the American diet. As for polyphenolics, it's a complicated story (there are a lot of them, they have direct and indirect effects as do their metabolites, acute vs chronic effects, etc.) and there are a lot of studies yet to be done but it's a fruitful avenue for future research. ;-)
 
My wife is a dietician and she has told me that drinking beer offers many of the same benefits as drinking wine. Beer also offers nutrients that are not present in wine. So both, in moderation can be beneficial to your health.
 
Calorie-wise, I think beer is not as rich as it's made to be. The carbohydrates in beer include a huge percentage of ethanol, and my impression from reading the science is that the caloric contribution of dietary ethanol after it's metabolized is not very well understood. Dietary recommendations for alcoholic drinks (and by extension beer) don't seem to be based on science, because the subject isn't well understood. My feeling is that a few beers doesn't affect your weight much, and that's been my experience. Sitting on your arse and eating icecream however, does.

Really, health-wise with beer the concern should be alcoholism, liver disease, and cancer; probably in that order. Not your weight.

In terms of weight and heart disease, Americans should be far more concerned about stress from work, sedentary lifestyle, and processed foods, rather than beer.
 
I drink a few during the week, and a few more on the weekends. I've lost 55 lbs since march (after hernia surgery and got fat due to no lifting/being active).its easy for me because I've been doing this for 15 years, but I watch my diet and only go over board with drinking when with my friends. I want to drink more but I try to be healthy. Its all in your self discipline I guess.
 
I read a news article the other day that said 100% of the people who drink beer will die.

As it turns out, 100% of the people who don't will also....
 
I'll have a few a week. Nothing in excess and as long as it fits into the diet for that day. I have yet to get sick this year. Although I'm sure beer isn't the only cause of this but I think it played a role. I've been sick much less since I started homebrewing.
 
I run (30-40 miles per week) so I can drink beer and eat what I want. I never drink on days that I haven't run at least 4 miles. Works to keep my weight down and because I love my home brew it motivates me to run so I can drink :tank:
 
jaellman said:
I read a news article the other day that said 100% of the people who drink beer will die.

As it turns out, 100% of the people who don't will also....

Very insightful. I guess then I should pour another. Lol
 
I've recently cut back on my consumption during the week. I've also worked wine in the mix for its benefits as well (its also less volume than a full beer, which I'm sure helps in some aspects, i.e. liver). Excersize a few nights a week, cut back on carbs, dont eat processed sugar, stay as far away from fast food as I can, eat healthier options, try not to eat processed food (although in modern day America its nearly impossible), and, during the week at least, wait an hour after eating to drink as your body processes alcohol over food, so the food gets stored as fat. It's all about maintenance. Also, RDWHAHB!
 
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