| Beer and health |
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| Written by Frank | |
| Wednesday, 25 March 2009 00:45 | |
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Drinking in general, and specifically the enjoyment of beer, is an experience and an act that involves a whole array of requirements and motivations. It‹s not just about being thirsty. More often, vital, individual and social motivations have to be taken into account, too. According to Brillant-Savarin, »it is one of the privileges of man to be able to drink without being thirsty.«. Next to being thirst-quenching, beer has always satisfied its drinkers by being
Plus: it is healthy. Simply read the following:
1. Hops In the early 1980ies, new knowledge has been added: • parts of the hardened resin of the hops inhibit the growth of microorganisms which can bring on certain diseases for mankind; • hop polyphenols can put off the development of tooth decay; • xanthohumol and xanthohumol B are highly inhibiting for the enzyme diacylglycerolacyl transferase (in microcosms of rats‹ livers), which transforms diacylglycerol into triacylglycerol. The latter enhances the development of a fat liver and obesity in various organs and tissues, which in consequence can lead to arteriosclerosis, diabetes and other metabolic disorders; • xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol contained in hops nearly entirely inhibit two enzymes of the P 450 type, which transform non-carcinogenic substances into carcinogenic compounds. In other words, they fight the development of cancer. Most of these results were taken from animal testing and thus cannot be adapted too easily to the human body. However, the high content of hops in beer can be said to have a positive effect on the physique 2. Hop Polyphenols Since they can have various positive effects on our health, the terms »phytochemicals« (for the USA) and even »phytoprotectants« (for the UK) have come into use. Polyphenols have a large range of properties that are good for our health. There are reasons to believe that they are
In vitro tests with some phenolic acids have proven that they combine with activated carcinogenic substances as well as »covering« the compounds with carcinogenics on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which means that the development of cancer is inhibited.
The body has various protective mechanisms for deactivating reactive oxygen molecules and radicals. By number, the polyphenols are the most frequent and most effective antioxidants in food of vegetable origin. The polyphenols found in beer can also inhibit spontaneous or artificially produced changes in the genetic composition. The most beneficial effects of red wine are attributed to the high percentage of polyphenols found in red wine. A few tests – not representative, though – have proven that red wine and red sparkling wine are indeed rich in polyphenols. This leads to the conclusion that beers rich in polyphenols are also physiologically beneficial. 80 percent of the polyphenols found in beer derive from the malt, while the other 20 percent come from the hops. A German Pilsener lager beer has an average polyphenol content of 153 mg/l. Certain beers, however, have a much higher content. Dark barley malts for example have a much higher amount of polyphenols than light barley malts. It can furthermore be assumed that there are great differences concerning the content of polyphenols apparent in the hops, depending on the species. When processing the raw materials, polyphenols should be kept intact and not be lost due to forced filtration and stabilisation, which is used to make the beer physically keep longer and taste more »smooth«. 3. Natural food A research of consumers in Switzerland has brought to light that most people approve of natural food because of two main considerations: on the one hand, consumers like to act environmentally friendly, on the other hand, they think that natural food is more healthy than conventionally produced food. The following characteristics should distinguish natural food in any case:
If a beer remains unfiltered, if it is possibly served only from the keg and sold exclusively within the brewery or in pubs and stores that are close to »the brewery‹s chimney«, then these are also important aspects that conform to the prerequisites of natural food.
»A good example spoils bad habits« The thoughts shared with you here are no theoretical imaginations but have in some places been put into practice.
A test of German beers has shown that the beers with the highest content of bitter constituents and polyphenols (with a given content of original wort) were the UERIGE beers from Düsseldorf. This house brewery makes carefully processed top-fermented beers using only umbel hops, thus ensuring that all of the valuable substances of the hops remain in the beer and are not lost during the process of »refining«. What‹s more, the beers are filtered very gently (the shelf life of the beer is four weeks). More than half of the produced amount is consumed in the guesthouse pertaining to the brewery, the rest is sold in the direct neighborhood. Is there any beer more enjoyable and good for your health, or one that conforms more to our ideas of natural food (i.e., gentle processing, short transport etc.)? Of course, producing such beers, choosing the raw material, processing, caring for and keeping it means also that the costs are higher. Written by: Exerpts of the following article:
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 March 2009 00:51 ) |
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