Stick to Home Brew to Reap the Heart-Healthy Benefits of Beer

Guest Post from DietsInReview.com

Beer in moderation can help keep the heart healthy. Researchers in the U.S. and Europe have conducted studies where participants were 30 percent less likely to suffer from a stroke, heart attack, and heart disease with beer consumption. If you want to decrease your chances of a stroke, heart attack, or heart disease then you’ll have to drink a pint of beer a day.

What exactly makes beer good for your heart? Our registered dietitian, Mary Hartley RD, told us “The B-vitamins and phytonutrients in beer are good for the heart.” The B-vitamins reduce homocysteine levels in the blood and reduce heart disease risk. Mary also stated that unfiltered beer is filled with nutrition and the best beer for your heart, “Actually, unfiltered beer – frothy, cloudy, and bitter – is highly nutritious, full of energy from glucose, B-vitamins, many trace minerals, and phytonutrients (a.k.a. antioxidants.) Fermentation improves the nutritional status of grain and supplies the body with beneficial bacteria.”

Moderation is key when it comes to beer and keeping the heart healthy. Remember that beer can pack on a ton of empty calories. A serving of light beer has up to 104 calories. Dark beer brands like Guinness has 126 calories and Beck’s Dark is 146 calories.

Mary said that processed beer isn’t going to give you the heart health benefits that you want it to. “There is much less of the good stuff in today’s processed beer. For instance, processed beer has no beneficial bacteria and it is not nearly as nutritious as early beer or home brew. Think of Budweiser like white bread, not nearly as wholesome as the real deal.”

So before you head to the local liquor store for a case of beer, consider getting unfiltered beer, home brewing, and ditching the convenience store processed beer.(NutritiousAmerica)