1. Stronger Bones

Beer contains high levels of silicon, which is linked to bone health. In a 2009 study at Tufts University and other centers, older men and women who swigged one or two drinks daily had higher bone density, with the greatest benefits found in those who favored beer or wine. However, downing more than two drinks was linked to increased risk for fractures.

For the best bone-building benefits, reach for pale ale, since a 2010 study of 100 types of beer from around the word identified these brews as richest in silicon, while light lagers and non-alcoholic beers contained the least.


2. A Stronger Heart
A 2011 analysis of 16 earlier studies involving more than 200,000 people, conducted by researchers at Italy’s Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura, found a 31 percent reduced risk of heart disease in those who quaffed about a pint of beer daily, while risk surged in those who guzzled higher amounts of alcohol, whether beer, wine, or spirits.

More than 100 studies also show that moderate drinking trims risk of heart attacks and dying from cardiovascular disease by 25 to 40 percent, Harvard reports. A beer or two a day can help raise levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol that helps keep arteries from getting clogged.


3. Healthier Kidneys
A study in Finland singled out beer among other alcoholic drinks, finding that each bottle of beer men drank daily lowered their risk of developing kidney stones by 40 percent. One theory is that beer’s high water content helped keep kidneys working, since dehydration increases kidney stone risk.

It’s also possible that the hops in beer help curb leeching of calcium from bones; that “lost” calcium also could end up in the kidneys as stones.

4. Boosting Brain Health
A beer a day may help keep Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia at bay, researchers say.

A 2005 study tracking the health of 11,000 older women showed that moderate drinkers (those who consumed about one drink a day) lowered their risk of mental decline by as much as 20 percent, compared to non-drinkers. In addition, older women who downed a drink a day scored as about 18 months “younger,” on average, on tests of mental skills than the non-drinkers.


5. Reduced Cancer Risk
A Portuguese study found that marinating steak in beer eliminates almost 70 percent of the carcinogens, called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when the meat is pan-fried. Researchers theorize that beer’s sugars help block HCAs from forming.

Scientists also have found that beer and wine contain about the same levels of antioxidants, but the antioxidants are different because the flavonoids found in hops and grapes are different.


6. Boosting Vitamin Levels
A Dutch study, performed at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, found that beer-drinking participants had 30 percent higher levels of vitamin B6 levels in their blood than their non-drinking counterparts, and twice as much as wine drinkers. Beer also contains vitamin B12 and folic acid.

7. Guarding Against Stroke
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that moderate amounts of alcohol, including beer, help prevent blood clots that block blood flow to the heart, neck and brain—the clots that cause ischemic stroke, the most common type.


8. Reduced Risk for Diabetes
Drink up: A 2011 Harvard study of about 38,000 middle-aged men found that when those who only drank occasionally raised their alcohol intake to one to two beers or other drinks daily, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes dropped by 25 percent. The researchers found no benefit to quaffing more than two drinks. The researchers found that alcohol increases insulin sensitivity, thus helping protect against diabetes.


9. Lower Blood Pressure
Wine is fine for your heart, but beer may be even better: A Harvard study of 70,000 women ages 25 to 40 found that moderate beer drinkers were less likely to develop high blood pressure—a major risk factor for heart attack—than women who sipped wine or spirits.

10. Longer Life
In a 2005 review of 50 studies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that moderate drinkers live longer. The USDA also estimates that moderate drinking prevents about 26,000 deaths a year, due to lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

These benefits appear to apply in other countries as well, with an earlier study reporting that, “if European beer drinkers stopped imbibing, there would be a decrease in life expectancy of two years—and much unhappiness.”

What is Alcohol?
The type of alcohol that features in the alcoholic drinks we drink is a chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, you need to put grains, fruits or vegetables through a process called fermentation ( yeast or bacteria react with the sugars in food – the byproducts are ethanol and carbon dioxide).

Wine and cider are made by fermenting fruit, while fermented cereals such as barley and rye form the basis of beer and spirits. A drink’s alcohol content is affected by how long it’s left to ferment.

Spirits also go through as process called distillation – where a proportion of the water is removed, leaving a stronger concentration of alcohol and flavor.

EFFECTS:
1) From the second you take your first sip, alcohol starts affecting your body and mind. After one or two drinks you may start feeling more sociable, but drink too much and basic human functions, such as walking and talking become much harder. You might also start saying things you don’t mean and behaving out of character. Some of alcohol’s effects disappear overnight – while others can stay with you a lot longer, or indeed become permanent.

On the Drinkaware website you’ll find useful clinically approved facts and information about the effects of alcohol on your life and lifestyle designed to help you make positive decisions about your drinking. Select the topic you’re interested in to find out more.

2) Alcohol alters the brain’s chemistry and increases the risk of depression. It is often associated with a range of mental health problems A recent British survey found that people suffering from anxiety or depression were twice as likely to be heavy or problem drinkers.

Extreme levels of drinking (defined as more than 30 units per day for several weeks) can occasionally cause ‘psychosis’, a severe mental illness where hallucinations and delusions of persecution develop. Psychotic symptoms can also occur when very heavy drinkers suddenly stop drinking and develop a condition known as ‘delirium tremens’.

Heavy drinking often leads to work and family problems, which in turn can lead to isolation and depression. For heavy drinkers who drink daily and become dependent on alcohol, there can be withdrawal symptoms (nervousness, tremors, palpitations) which resemble severe anxiety, and may even cause phobias, such as a fear of going out.

3) Anyone who has suffered a hangover will know that mirrors are unforgiving things on a morning after the night before. Your skin looks pale, grey and tired. Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists explains: “Alcohol dehydrates your body generally, including the skin, which is your body’s largest organ. This happens every time you drink.

“Alcohol is also thought to deprive the skin of certain vital vitamins and nutrients,” she adds. At least women have the option of make-up to hide the hangover tell-tale signs.

But that’s only for starters. Drinking more than you should over time can have other, much more permanent, detrimental effects on your skin. Rosacea, a skin disorder that starts with a tendency to blush and flush easily and can eventually lead to facial disfigurement, is linked to alcohol.

“One of the effects of alcohol is to dilate the small blood vessels in the skin, which can make the skin appear redder,” says Goad. “The central areas of the face can become studded with small red bumps and pus spots, which come and go in crops. Small dilated blood vessels also appear, looking like thin red streaks.”

Source(s):

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk

valmunich: Crystal lies!!! Alcohol is a killer period! Will never taste that so far ℓ exist!

BedLam: @op, do you know how many people suffering from beer induced obesity? Please for your own benefits, take wine! Someone has been paid by HARP LAGER AND STAR LAGER.

Super1759: which one be this one again.
Which one we go believe self?