Drinking beer could be good for your gut health and your immune system.
Scientists have found that drinking pints in moderation could be better than abstaining all together.
It’s thought drinking beer boosts the body’s immune system because of a collection of healthy bacteria that benefits the gut.
The study, by Dalian Medical University, claims polyphenols, fibre and ethanol in beer are the key ingredients to supercharging your immune system.
Beer was suggested to be more beneficial to the gut than probiotics found in yoghurt and cheese
It was found to be more effective than probiotics when drunk in moderation.
Probiotics are foods with live microorganisms with supposed health benefits.
They include the likes of trendy kimchi and kombucha, but it’s also found in cheese and yoghurt.
‘As a long-established fermented beverage, beer is rich in many essential amino acids, vitamins, trace elements, and bioactive substances that are involved in the regulation of many human physiological functions,’ say the Chinese authors of the latest review.
The scientists add: ‘The polyphenols in the malt and hops of beer are also important active compounds that interact in both directions with the gut microbiome.
‘Due to the conversion of beer substrates, the formation of bioactive end products, and the presence of microorganisms, some of its components exert “similar” or even greater effects than probiotics.’
It made the case for ‘beer bioactives’ to be used later down the line for health benefits.
Future products – labelled health beers – may prevent diseases later down the line such as arteriosclerosis and heart disease and improve blood circulation.
The review published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, sates: ‘Combining these results of studies in humans and animals, there is a consensus that moderate beer consumption has a beneficial effect on the immune system compared to states of alcohol abuse or abstinence.
‘When alcohol consumption is controlled within safe limits, the combined effects of alcohol and other component metabolism on the intestinal flora deserve a more comprehensive analysis.’
However, the benefits of drinking beer on the gut only apply to moderate drinkers.
The review claims: ‘The risk of death is lower in light and moderate drinkers and increased in heavy drinkers.’
Prof Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiovascular and metabolic health at the University of Glasgow, says the review ‘misses the bigger picture’.
‘It is true some of the ingredient’s beer contains may have positive impacts on health but they are easily overcome by the alcohol itself,’ he told the Telegraph.
Drinking alcohol in excess has been found to increase the risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, liver disease and several types of cancer, according to the NHS.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level, both men and women are advised by the NHS not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk