NEW YORK, July 31, 2009
Beer A Health Booster?
Appears to Benefit Heart, Bones, Research Shows
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(CBS/EARLY SHOW)
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Play CBS Video Video Beer Benefits Dr. Jennifer Ashton spoke to Jeff Glor about the possible health benefits of beer.
Research has linked moderate beer consumption to healthier hearts and bones. CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton pointed out on "The Early Show" Friday.
The American Heart Association considers 12 ounces one drink of beer, and a drink or two a day moderate intake for men and a drink a day morderate for women.
The AHA also cautions people NOT to start drinking alcoholic beverages if they don't already, and urges them to consult their doctors on the subject.
BEER AND BLOOD PRESSURE
In the Nurses Health study, over 70,000 women ages 25 to 42 were examined for the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of hypertension. The study found that those who drank moderate amounts of beer (one beer) had less hypertension than nurses who drank either wine or spirits.
BEER AND ARTERY DISEASE
A large Kaiser Permanente survey of almost 130,000 adults showed that male beer drinkers in the group were at a statistically significantly lower risk of coronary artery disease than men who drank red wine, white wine or spirits.Beer is also rich in B-vitamins and folates (found in leafy green vegetables), both of which help keep homocysteine blood levels in check. High levels of the chemical homocysteine have been linked to increased risk of heart disease.
BEER AND BONES
A study from Tufts School of Nutrition showed beer, either dark or light, protects bone mineral density. Katherine Tucker, associate professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, says the alcoholic beverage has high levels of an ingredient that enables the deposit of calcium and other minerals into bone tissue. Scientists point to silicon, which helps absorption of calcium and minerals to make strong bones. People with diets high in silicon, a mineral found in dark beer, had higher bone densities and therefore a lower chance of developing osteoporosis. Excessive drinking, however, can lead to a greater number of bone fractures.
FROM THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION:
Are there potential benefits of drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages?
Research is being done to find out what the apparent benefits of drinking wine or alcohol in some populations may be due to, including the role of antioxidants, an increase in HDL ("good") cholesterol or anti-clotting properties. Clinical trials of other antioxidants such as vitamin E have not shown any cardio-protective effect. Also, even if they were protective, antioxidants can be obtained from many fruits and vegetables, including red grape juice.
The best-known effect of alcohol is a small increase in HDL cholesterol. However, regular physical activity is another effective way to raise HDL cholesterol, and niacin can be prescribed to raise it to a greater degree. Alcohol or some substances such as resveratrol found in alcoholic beverages may prevent platelets in the blood from sticking together. That may reduce clot formation and reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. (Aspirin may help reduce blood clotting in a similar way.) How alcohol or wine affects cardiovascular risk merits further research, but right now the American Heart Association does not recommend drinking wine or any other form of alcohol to gain these potential benefits. The AHA does recommend that to reduce your risk you should talk to your doctor about lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure, controlling your weight, getting enough physical activity and following a healthy diet. There is no scientific proof that drinking wine or any other alcoholic beverage can replace these conventional measures.
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Add a Comment See all 22 Comments
- well I dont think michael phelps did too much of a bad thing.. he didn't down drinks out of this thing:
http://funcfash.com/2009/08/giant-beer-for-giant-man/
not good for dark beer. - Reply to this comment
- Being a dark beer drinker, I am happy to see that my consumption of one a day or less is, as I always felt, healthy. Unfortunately, Americans have always had the mistaken belief that "if some is good, more is better."
From the posted comments, it's obvious the few can understand "moderate" and what the article is really about. So let me spell it out for you boneheads. It is NOT about politics or giving you an excuse to become beer drunks. You are probably already the latter, so you don't need justification. You just need to sober up and start thinking logically. - Reply to this comment
- Beer A Health Booster? No.
Study after study proves that the risks associated with daily alcohol consumption outweigh the benefits (all of which can be achieved by other, safer means). I don't favor any sort of ban on alcohol, I would just prefer if the media would stop putting out stories like this that contradict reason and will doubtlessly convince some sheeple that beer is somehow healthy. I notice they don't bother to mention that one drink per day significantly raises the risk of certain types of cancer. This is kind of like saying smoking is good for you because it increases your breathing and heart rate just like aerobic exercise. - Reply to this comment
- i'll drink to that,,,
where is my odama stimulous package for beer drinking??? - Reply to this comment
- You never mentioned the added benefit of beer or white wine lowering glucose thereby protecting the heart AND also lowering the riskfor diabetics. Read the Science News article for June 30 2007 for the studies cited.
- Reply to this comment
- by Buddha10 July 31, 2009 12:38 PM EDT
Marine take it easy, stop letting everyone else think for you.
Sir, I think for myself, I just think this is stupid. - Reply to this comment
- I'm sorry but this discussion has given me such a powerful thirst for a few cold ones . . . . . . I prefer Corona but right now I'd drink anything you want to call "beer."
C'mon y'all let's go to the bar -- TGIF!!!!! (And it's payday too, YAY!!!) - Reply to this comment
- Now I have a "health" related reason to switch to beer from wine!
NJ will launch on Sunday a 25% tax increase on wine and spirits! The State officials did not tax beer because "it is what the poor people drink" - this is almost a direct quote from a NJ State official. - Reply to this comment
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- I imagine that even NJ will have to increase that tax quite a bit more to even come close to some states' high taxes on alcohol like Alaska!
- The increased NJ tax on wine and spirits will just increase liquor sales in bordering states. NJ residents close to the state border will purchase their wine and liquor out of state.
When West Virginia enacted a 6% sales tax on food and clothing, everybody who was close enough to Pennsylvania started driving there for their food and clothes because PA does not charge sales tax on food or clothes. Since then WV had lowered its sales tax on food and it's now somewhere around 4%. But that's still too much - any tax on food penalizes the poor.
- I meant the picture of the four of them toasting, not the picture with this article.
- Reply to this comment
- It's addictive nature makes it highly likely that those who drink it will becomes drunks. Drunks kill people and themselves! It killed my father who died in a detox center in 1982 after drinking more alcohol than his system could absorb. One expects a liberal media, three of the networks are in hyper-liberal New York after all, to defend Obama's drinking.
- Reply to this comment
- Michael Phelps' has a picture taken of him hitting a bong and all you heard was "What kind of message is this sending to the kids",.....how is this picture with this article any different?
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- AJ:
Tell it brother. I guess it comes down to if the President glorifies 'beer night with the boys' its got be alright, huh. We are just a bastian of contrasdictions in this country?
- This story has absolutely nothing to do with marijuana, and even less with kids, since it is talking about adults drinking moderate amounts of BEER producing positive effects on health.
What exactly do you not understand about "significantly lower risk of coronary artery disease," and "protecting bone mineral density?"
- Hey Cy:
Having a little knowledge of medicine myself, alcohol may be a wonderful thing for CAD, but the easiest is healthy living, exercise and proper eating. Thank you for your sarcasm, which you are so good at.
- AJ:
