Drink beer to your health, Part 1: Beer and hard liquor as beneficial as wine

January 13, 9:34 PMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

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Professor Charlie Bamforth enjoys what he professes

Maybe you drink a glass or two of red wine every day because you have heard about its high levels of heart-protecting antioxidants, such as resveratrol.

What you may not know: The main heart-helping ingredient in alcoholic drinks is ethanol—alcohol itself.

Charles Bamforth, PhD., Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California, Davis was recently interviewed by Bottom Line Personal.  His article appeared in the October 15 issue.  It is reprinted here in parts with permission from Professor Bamforth.    

Landmark study: An international team of scientists led by researchers in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health analyzed 10 studies that linked moderate intake of alcohol with a lower risk for heart disease. Four studies showed that wine lowered risk.. .four showed beer lowered risk...and four showed spirits lowered risk. All alcoholic drinks are linked with lower risk for heart disease, concluded the authors in British Medical Journal.  

That study and others prompted the American Heart Association to declare, "There is no clear evidence that wine is more beneficial than other forms of alcohol."

Scientists don't yet know the exact mechanism by which ethanol helps the heart, but it's probably by boosting HDL (good) cholesterol...decreasing levels of the clotting protein fibrinogen, thereby reducing the risk for artery-clogging blood clots.. .and normalizing blood sugar levels (diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease).

Next: Drink beer to your health, Part 2: Lifestyle factors