Belgium: New evidence on moderate beer drinking

A leading European medical conference has heard how a moderate intake of beer can help beat cancer, heart disease, dementia and other illnesses, the British Morning Advertiser communicated on May 05.

The conference in Brussels brought together leading medical and scientific experts from around Europe who shared the latest scientific evidence on the role responsible beer drinking can play in a healthy diet and lifestyle.

While the wine story is well known, the positive role of beer is just emerging.

Many of the health benefits of moderate beer drinking are unique to beer because of its ingredients such as hops and malted barley.

Of all the alcoholic drinks on the market beer is also relatively low in alcoholic strength.

"This medical conference stresses that new evidence is emerging around the alcohol and health story", said conference Chairman Professor Jonathan Powell of the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research in Cambridge. "The media and public tend to focus on wine. However, the emerging evidence is the real benefits are related to the alcohol itself and so the positive story also relates to other drinks such as beer. Drinks such as beer have other nutrients and properties that can also be beneficial in terms of health.

“This conference is about redressing the balance.

“Another important aspect to the role of moderate drinking and health is that the benefits relate to many of the prime public health issues of today such as heart disease, osteoporosis, strokes, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”

The medical evidence presented includes research which shows moderate beer drinking:

Reduces the risk of heart disease
Helps keep blood pressure down and reduce the risk of stroke
Benefits the immune system meaning healthy adults are less prone to get infections
Has anti-inflammatory effects which contributes to heart health
Could play a role in the battle against osteoporosis as it Improves bone mineral density which contributes to healthy bones
Helps fight cancer because of compounds in hops called flavinoids
Decreases the risk of dementia due to its beneficial effect on preserving brain function in old age
Can protect against type II diabetes.

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