9 scientific reasons why drinking beer is good for you

Need an excuse to tip back a pint tonight? Toast to your health with these nine...
Beer: It's not as unhealthy as you think
Rex
Liz Connor5 September 2017

If you happened to find yourself consuming a pint or two at the weekend, don’t worry - your hangover was not in vain.

Contrary to what you might expect, moderate beer consumption is actually good for you. Science has shown that beer can bring many surprising health benefits alongside the better-known perks of bringing out your best dance moves and your worst chat up lines.

Of course, we’re talking moderate consumption (one drink per day for women, and up to two for men), not the type of all-night drinking sprees that would put Henry Chinaski to shame.

Here, on International Beer Day, are some remarkable and surprising beer benefits that might encourage you to have a brew tonight.

1. It keeps your heart healthy

While glugging wine might be the boozy pasttime that we associate with decreasing cardiovascular disease risk, beer may be just as heart-healthy a beverage. Research has found that moderate beer drinkers have a 42 per cent lower risk of heart disease compared to non-drinkers. Although it’s good to note that the researchers suggest keeping consumption to one pint - at around 5 per cent alcohol by volume - a day.

2. It can make you live longer

It’s not the elixir of life, but Virginia Tech researchers found that regular, moderate beer drinkers were 19 per cent less likely to die during a given time period than people who never touch a drop. Well, there’s a good enough reason than any to toast to your health.

3. It can get your creative juices flowing

There’s a reason why you do your best thinking after you’ve polished off a pint. According to a study in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, knocking back a beer or two can boost your creativity. When 40 men watched a movie while completing verbal puzzles, beer-drinking blokes with a blood alcohol content of .075 solved the problems a few seconds faster than their sober counterparts.

4. It can protect you from Alzhiemer's

Short-term memory loss during consumption aside, a recent study found Xanthohumol, a compound in the hops used to flavour beer, is able to protect the brain from degenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Surprising benefits: Beer can protect you from Alzhiemer's disease 
Rex

5. It can give you stronger bones

Conscientiously objecting to buying a pint of milk? A 2009 study concluded that the elevated levels of silicon in beer can contribute to higher bone density.

6. It has fewer calories than skimmed milk or orange juice

Here’s one reason why you shouldn’t feel guilty for a having a pint for breakfast while on holiday - Guinness released statistics showing that its heavy stout is lower in calories than both OJ and skimmed milk.

7. It can prevent type 2 diabetes

Dutch researchers analysed 38,000 male health professionals and found that when men who weren't big drinkers began drinking moderately over 4 years, they were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. However, that doesn’t mean you should order in a ten pint round - researchers found that, increased alcohol consumption over time didn't lower the risk in men who already had a couple drinks a day, so moderation is the key.

London's beautiful beer gardens - in pictures

1/9

8. It can help you to recover after a workout

According to a Spanish study, a post-workout pint could be more effective than a bottle of water. Researchers asked students to exercise until their body temperature reached 104 degrees, and then had them rehydrate with beer or water. As it turns out, people who had a post-workout pint were slightly more hydrated than those who had H2O.

9. It can help with stress and anxiety

Moderate alcohol consumption can reduce stress and anxiety, known contributors of heart disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, alcohol reduces the risk of dying of a heart attack and possibly reduces risk of strokes. We’ll drink to that.

Follow us on Twitter: @ESLife&Style

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in