Bottoms Up! The Health Benefits of Beer

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Bottoms Up! The Health Benefits of Beer

– Reported, March 05, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — For many, it just wouldn’t be Saint Patrick’s Day without a pint! In fact, 13 million pints of Guinness and countless cups of green beer are chugged around the world every March 17th. While we’ve heard all about the bad things beer can do to our bodies, in moderation it could do some good too.

Eric is a Brew Master.

“It’s like the best job ever,” Eric told Ivanhoe.

His concoctions can intoxicate and they could medicate.

“Well alcohol’s been used as medication for forever and ever,” Dr. Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., Professor & Co-Vice Chair at the University of Florida, told Ivanhoe.

Addiction Expert Sara Jo Nixon says, like red wine, drinking beer can be good for your heart!

“That’s something that the beer industry has not really capitalized on,” Dr. Nixon explained.

An Italian study of more than 200,000 people found those who drank a pint a day, had a 31 percent decrease in heart disease risk. Beer can also raise HDL, the good cholesterol, in your body.

A 2009 study found the high levels of silicon in beer can be good for bones, but too many could mean more fractures.

“We also know that there’s a line between too much alcohol being bad for bones,” explained Dr. Nixon.

Harvard studies found beer can prevent blood clots and reduce the risk of stroke, and that a few beers a day lowered the risk of diabetes in middle-aged men by 25 percent.

Research in Europe found moderate beer drinkers had 30 percent higher levels of the disease-fighting vitamin B6 compared to non-drinkers.

“But, you can’t substitute a beer for your multi-vitamin,” explained Dr. Nixon.

Nixon says, moderation is key. It’s recommended women have no more than one drink a day and men, no more than two, because the organ systems that benefit from a few beers.

“Are the same organ systems that are comprised when you cross the line,” Dr. Nixon told Ivanhoe.

A few more benefits of beer, a study in Finland reports that men who drank a few bottles daily lowered their risk of kidney stones by 40 percent.