"Beer, also known as "liquid bread", is the oldest alcoholic beverage in human history. Archaeological research has found evidence of beer consumption in China as far back as 9.000 years ago, and the Babylonians also mention it in 6.000 BC on their clay tablets. At the same time , beer is a drink that today, like no other, is produced all over the world. In terms of total consumption, beer is right after water and tea" - write the authors in the introduction of a study from China.
He then follows: “As a fermented beverage, beer is rich in many essential amino acids, vitamins, microelements and bioactive substances that are involved in the regulation of many human physiological functions. This study summarizes the mechanisms by which polyphenols, fiber and other beneficial beer components are fermentatively degraded by the gut microbiome and thus contribute to immune regulation.
Beer degradation products have anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antioxidant and glucolipid metabolism modulation potential. The positive effects of bioactive substances in beer in the prevention of cancer, reduction of cardiovascular diseases and modulation of metabolic syndrome make it one of the candidates for microecological modulators"...
That all sounds great!
A controversial study
However, a closer look at the study quickly spoils the mood. Because it was financed by the State Key Laboratory of Biological Fermentation Engineering of Beer. And it is part of Tsingtao Brewery – one of the two largest beer producers in China.
In addition, two of the five authors of the study are from the Tsingtao lab - so there may be a conflict of interest.
Helmut Seitz, a scientist who has been researching the effects of alcohol on the human body for decades, therefore doubts the independence of that research. He was primarily interested in the content of that study, which, as he said, "is grotesque compared to alcohol."
"Of course there are certain ingredients in beer that have a beneficial effect on health, for example hop extract," explains Zajc.
More harm than good
The oxidative effect of alcohol is much greater than the potential positive effect of all other ingredients, this scientist points out - and explains that this oxidative effect leads to inflammation and increases the risk of diseases - from diabetes to cancer.
"Alcohol causes cancer precisely in the colon," warns Zajc. "Alcohol turns into acetaldehyde in the body and has a toxic effect."
And not only that: according to this scientist, beer is even more harmful to the intestines than wine. But, as he notes, it has not yet been discovered why this is so.
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