We all know drinking a glass of (red) wine a day is supposedly healthy for your heart. But recent study says beer is also healthy!
You could stop reading now and start raiding the fridge for beers
I could stop writing now and start drinking beer... hmm... I guess some of you would like to know more though, so I might have to choose to drink while writing or don't drink until the workday is over... That's probably the smart thing to do ;-)
Anyways...
Some scientists in Rio de Janeiro from the Federal Institute of Education Science and Technology decided it was time to give fifteen healthy adult men (from 20 to 57 years old) 330ml of beer a day.
The first 30 days they didn't get beer though (poor guys), so that the scientists could get numbers to compare with.
The 2nd 30 days they got 330ml of non-alcoholic beer.
The 3rd 30 days they got 330ml of alcoholic beer (6%).
Free beer! yay!
But only one a day :-(
Oh... and not for us, but for the men who participated in the study.
Of course they took blood samples during the study so that numbers could be compared.
Here's the gist of it:
Drinking alcoholic beer significantly reduced insulin levels, fasting glucose levels and insulin resistance
Side-note: All carbohydrates we consume (grains, pasta, rice, sugar, etc.) get converted to glucose (blood-sugar) in our bodies. When glucose levels go up, so does insulin. Insulin tells our cells to store the glucose (in fat and muscle cells).
If someone has high insulin resistance it means the cells respond poorly to the insulin and doesn't store the glucose properly. This causes high levels of glucose to remain high, which can be dangerous. This is called diabetes type 2.
Thus drinking an alcoholic beer a day significantly reduces the chance of getting diabetes!
Of course it doesn't stop there as having better insulin sensitivity means it's:
- harder to get fat
- easier to lose fat
- easier to build muscle
- improves quality of sleep
- speeds up recovery (from training or injury)
- reduces heart disease risks
- etc.
So there you have it, drink your beer and feel good about it!
Cheers
Study referenced: Schrieks, Ilse C., et al. "The effect of alcohol consumption on insulin sensitivity and glycemic status: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies." Diabetes Care 38.4 (2015): 723-732.
If you like beer, please...
