Beer may be good for your health!

[pc_trott]

A slew of recent studies have been published indicating that all that intestinal flora and fauna is good for not only our physical well-being, but our mental well-being as well, and that got me wondering if my daily drink or two (who's counting) of beer might be bad for my intestinal microbiome, . So I did what I assumed any intelligent person does (not that I'd know), and searched for info online. I hit on this fascinating paper from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and I thought "The folks on Homebrewtalk.com will be fascinated, if they aren't too snockered to read! So here's the link. I hope that one of you with a biology/chemistry background will explain the finer details to me.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6918268/
One of the most interesting statements in the paper was this: "However, beer is the most widely consumed fermented beverage in the world and has received less attention than wine. In 2006, nearly 1,700,000,000 hL of beer were drunk in the world." I wonder if that includes home brew? Heck, each of us homebrewers probably counts for a couple hL, and I doubt most of us are reporting that to anyone (although my wife has a suspicion, I'm sure...)

Enjoy!

 

[OleBrewing]

Unpasteurized beer is good for the gut. Although may cause gas depending on ones diet. But so does some veggies for me. Not only that the dead yeast cells have lots of vitamins.

 

[HB2 HughBHomeBrew]

"The final alcohol content usually ranges from 1.0% to 6.0%, depending on the type of beer."

Count me out on that 1% beer. Because, ya know, definitely not enough tocopherols and stuff

 

[gunhaus]

MAY BE . . .? Right . . . People drank beer as their primary hydration source for thousands of years and lived WELL into their 20's and 30's with almost no ill health effects . . .

 

[Sam_92]

Beer is very good for my mental health at the very least. They say stress will kill you and there's nothing that calms my stress more than knowing I have a couple gallons of beer in bottles and several more in a carboy waiting to be in bottles.

On the flip side I don't want to live to be a hundred, I'm not having much fun now I can't even imagine how fun it could be with a decrepit body and a feebler mind.

 

[Miraculix]

The unfermentables are probably feeding the gut microbiome, which is the key factor to a good gut health according to people.

 

[kevin58]

The findings that beer can be good for your health has been known for hundreds of years. Nice student paper but it says nothing new.

 

[Consigliere]

While there likely are some benefits of beer drinking I think it would be better said that their are benefits of consuming fermented products. I of course love beer but consume it in a way that tries to minimize the negatives of it.

on the beer or two a day thought I was very much this person for many years. However I listened to a podcast by Peter Attia (The Drive) on sleep (it is actually 3 parts, roughly 8hrs in total) and in that a sleep expert describes the impact of a single drink to most peoples sleep cycle and I was shocked.It is supported by data from biometrics Peter collects with his patients. In short, elevated heart rate and body temp impact your sleep for a single drink as long as about 6-8hrs before sleeping. I testeD my own experience with this and found less waking up in the night and more restful overall sleeps without having one or two drinks around dinner. Again, each person is unique but this is was something that you don’t hear about much in terms of alcohol consumption.

 

[Miraculix]

While there likely are some benefits of beer drinking I think it would be better said that their are benefits of consuming fermented products. I of course love beer but consume it in a way that tries to minimize the negatives of it.

on the beer or two a day thought I was very much this person for many years. However I listened to a podcast by Peter Attia (The Drive) on sleep (it is actually 3 parts, roughly 8hrs in total) and in that a sleep expert describes the impact of a single drink to most peoples sleep cycle and I was shocked.It is supported by data from biometrics Peter collects with his patients. In short, elevated heart rate and body temp impact your sleep for a single drink as long as about 6-8hrs before sleeping. I testeD my own experience with this and found less waking up in the night and more restful overall sleeps without having one or two drinks around dinner. Again, each person is unique but this is was something that you don’t hear about much in terms of alcohol consumption.

I saw the same episodes and I came to the same conclusion testing the claims myself, they are true. One drink really has a strong negative impact on sleep quality and this directly reflects on how we feel and how we percieve the following day. Ironically, the craving for a beer in the evening is strongest when I have the worst sleep, so it's kind of a self supporting cycle. Drink one or two beer in the evening, really want another one the next day at the same time.

 

[madscientist451]

MAY BE . . .? Right . . . People drank beer as their primary hydration source for thousands of years and lived WELL into their 20's and 30's with almost no ill health effects . . .

Yeah but part of the short life span could be attributed to constant pointless wars started by tyrants.....beer helped them find purpose in their lives....

 

[bracconiere]

well i don't how good beer is...but if it wasn't for drinking so much and having health problems...i wouldn't have jumped down this rabbit hole to keep drinking!


https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
and all the third party tools that use the db....

lost 90 pounds, and kept it off for 12 years...didn't even have to quit drinking....

edit: and my monthly groceries are only like $80

 

[superiorsat]

One drink really has a strong negative impact on sleep quality

That is why you never drink just one! I will admit that when you fill the tank before bed it pretty much guarantees a trip to the john about 3 am to drain the taters as grandpa used to say.

 

[gunhaus]

Yeah but part of the short life span could be attributed to constant pointless wars started by tyrants.....beer helped them find purpose in their lives....

Sure, it could be a political thing. But during the interwar periods their life span did not jump to 70ish! No, it was more likely the brutal nature of manual labor in the pre-industrial age, sketchy and inconsistent dietary resources, and the fact they pooped right next to their water supplies on a regular basis. I think beer was the only wholesome, nutritious, and soothing regularity in their lives, and doubtless without it they all would have high-dived from a tall thatched roof hovel by their late teens! (To escape the dark forces of tyranny of course. )

 

[McMullan]

The potential nutritional benefits of beer have been recognised for decades. What's changed, in terms of the linked publication, is that it's been established for some time gut microflora are beneficial for us, too. Our bodies - the bodies of living things generally - are colonised by innumerable friendly microbes we've evolved to live with symbiotically. It's just part of our ecology. We can apply the same view as presented in the linked publication to more or less everything we consume, not just beer.

 

[McMullan]

While there likely are some benefits of beer drinking I think it would be better said that their are benefits of consuming fermented products. I of course love beer but consume it in a way that tries to minimize the negatives of it.

on the beer or two a day thought I was very much this person for many years. However I listened to a podcast by Peter Attia (The Drive) on sleep (it is actually 3 parts, roughly 8hrs in total) and in that a sleep expert describes the impact of a single drink to most peoples sleep cycle and I was shocked.It is supported by data from biometrics Peter collects with his patients. In short, elevated heart rate and body temp impact your sleep for a single drink as long as about 6-8hrs before sleeping. I testeD my own experience with this and found less waking up in the night and more restful overall sleeps without having one or two drinks around dinner. Again, each person is unique but this is was something that you don’t hear about much in terms of alcohol consumption.

I find that I sleep like a baby after several pints. I recommend you broaden your experimental design and aim to capture a complete normal distribution in your data.

 

[hotbeer]

Like a lot of stuff, there is good and bad.

They've been writing studies about beer for longer than I've been alive showing the bad and good......

Such studies have ceased to be news to me. It's just expected that someone will come out with a new way to argue the pro's and con's.

 

[Miraculix]

That is why you never drink just one! I will admit that when you fill the tank before bed it pretty much guarantees a trip to the john about 3 am to drain the taters as grandpa used to say.

It is not really about waking up during the night or not. It is about the different phases of sleep and how long we stay in these. There is one phase which is particularly important for the brain to "digest" all the information that came in during the day. If this phase is too short or does not happen at all, the recovering part during the sleep does not happen on the brain level. This is the case after drinking some alcohol and can be witnessed on an even extremer level when other drugs are taken like marihuana and chemicals. The guy wrote a book about this subject, I got it here but have not read it completely yet, he really goes deeply into the subject and did all the sciency stuff to validate what he is saying.

Another interesting thing seems to be that the information from the day, that gets "digested" by the brain at night, seems to be the basis for learning processes or what might be described as personal development. If this process stops, one stays on one spot, not much development. I can say with 100% certainty that this is the exact case with people who smoke weed on a daylie basys and/or drink on a daylie basys.

 

[McMullan]

After several pints I'm usually snoring away in log phase.

 

[newtwobrew]

While there likely are some benefits of beer drinking I think it would be better said that their are benefits of consuming fermented products. I of course love beer but consume it in a way that tries to minimize the negatives of it.

on the beer or two a day thought I was very much this person for many years. However I listened to a podcast by Peter Attia (The Drive) on sleep (it is actually 3 parts, roughly 8hrs in total) and in that a sleep expert describes the impact of a single drink to most peoples sleep cycle and I was shocked.It is supported by data from biometrics Peter collects with his patients. In short, elevated heart rate and body temp impact your sleep for a single drink as long as about 6-8hrs before sleeping. I testeD my own experience with this and found less waking up in the night and more restful overall sleeps without having one or two drinks around dinner. Again, each person is unique but this is was something that you don’t hear about much in terms of alcohol consumption.

Although I haven't listened to this podcast I came to the same conclusion myself. My sleep is much less restful if I have more than one beer or any martinis within an hour or two before bed.

 

[monkeymath]

You can put lipstick on a pig, but you're kidding yourself if you deny that ethanol is a poison and addiction to alcohol ruins thousands of lives and families.

Of course we all enjoy beer and like to indulge from time to time, but we shouldn't play down the potential harm this lifestyle induces.

 

[Dancy]

The carcinogenic effects of alcohol outweigh the health benefits and I believe that is well-supported by reputable medical studies. I don’t kid myself about beer’s “health benefits” and simply enjoy the process of brewing, the taste and the relaxing effects of that. I use to enjoy bourbon — a bit too much and started experiencing heart palpitations. I followed my cardiologist‘s advice and quit all hard alcohol last July. The palpitations stopped. I don’t drink more than 2 beers at a time, occasionally 3 and that seems to work. As much as I enjoy it, if I had to quit beer, I could. It’s just one of many beverage options.

 

[UdonPete]

Part of my 5 a day

 

[PCABrewing]

Yeah but part of the short life span could be attributed to constant pointless wars started by tyrants..

Among other things like house fires that would wipe-out entire families. Back in olden times they were far more common and the response was marginal.
Or diseases that we don't get anymore due to sanitation and other benefits of modern life.

 

[PCABrewing]

You can put lipstick on a pig, but you're kidding yourself if you deny that ethanol is a poison and addiction to alcohol ruins thousands of lives and families.

Of course we all enjoy beer and like to indulge from time to time, but we shouldn't play down the potential harm this lifestyle induces.

I know several people close to me whose lives are destroyed by alcohol and a couple who are dead from it.

 

[bracconiere]

Among other things like house fires that would wipe-out entire families. Back in olden times they were far more common and the response was marginal.
Or diseases that we don't get anymore due to sanitation and other benefits of modern life.

chollera from dead carcasses in the well prompted the english sewer system didn't it? they thought it was the 'bad smell' causing it....

if only they understood, it was still perfectly fine brewing water? just as long as it gets boiled.....we'd still have to deal with the bad air probably

 

[PCABrewing]

Another interesting thing seems to be that the information from the day, that gets "digested" by the brain at night, seems to be the basis for learning processes or what might be described as personal development.

Yeah, that's actually pretty cool. It's like a book return at a library. Throughout the day stuff gets dropped in then periodically (at night) it is filed and cataloged and longer term connections are made.
The brain is fascinating! It is a biologic computer and data store all in one.

 

[bracconiere]

I know several people close to me whose lives are destroyed by alcohol and a couple who are dead from it.

and kiddies shouldn't get scared enough to worship gansters....nor should they dismiss the responsibility...after just 5 years of heavy drinking, i've been told TMI for this before...but i think it needs to be said, i had blood spewing from ass abcess every month, when i started puking blood from the HORRIBLE heart burn i was living with, i decided beer is not a complete food.....and i need to eat, but wanted a list of what's in what, and what i need so i can price out how much i actually have to spend on groceries...


why i always discourge drinking like i do....UNLESS you're like me and have a dope dealer try to shove a line up your nose everytime you go out....

 

[PCABrewing]

chollera from dead carcasses in the well prompted the english sewer system didn't it? they thought it was the 'bad smell' causing it....

That and the fact that the street was the (un-)sanitary sewer and people would dump their chamber pots right in the street.
It would not be uncommon for a cobblestone street to look more like a dirt country road from all the human waste.

 

[Dancy]

Or diseases that we don't get anymore due to sanitation and other benefits of modern life.

Or like the many vaccines we’ve taken for granted and so many have “forgotten” about

 

[Sam_92]

It is not really about waking up during the night or not. It is about the different phases of sleep and how long we stay in these. There is one phase which is particularly important for the brain to "digest" all the information that came in during the day. If this phase is too short or does not happen at all, the recovering part during the sleep does not happen on the brain level. This is the case after drinking some alcohol and can be witnessed on an even extremer level when other drugs are taken like marihuana and chemicals. The guy wrote a book about this subject, I got it here but have not read it completely yet, he really goes deeply into the subject and did all the sciency stuff to validate what he is saying.

Another interesting thing seems to be that the information from the day, that gets "digested" by the brain at night, seems to be the basis for learning processes or what might be described as personal development. If this process stops, one stays on one spot, not much development. I can say with 100% certainty that this is the exact case with people who smoke weed on a daylie basys and/or drink on a daylie basys.

I don't think this is a complete picture though because I have drank pretty hard through my 20s and I can remember every job I've ever done. My company has a fair amount of alchies and some that practice sobriety and if anything the hard drinkers are the ones that remember the most and have collected more information. I know this is wildly anecdotal but I also think that we put way too much stock in the scientific process because by nature it usually happens in a lab. Labs are not real world environments and the fact that the experiment is being observed skews the results.