Nothing compares to popping open a chilled bottle of beer on a hot summer day. However, given the bad reputation alcohol has managed to earn, it is difficult believe that it could maybe affect your gut health – in a good way.
Think of your gut as a bar. The greatest bar settings are bustling with a variety of people. They talk a lot, but they aren’t loud, so the mood is balanced. The equilibrium of the gut microbiota is comparable. Trillions of different bacteria frequent it like a favourite watering spot, and studies have shown that the greater the variety of bacterial species, the healthier one’s gut is.
The gut’s biodiversity may be enhanced by moderate consumption of beer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, according to a small study of 22 healthy males. Men participated in the study by consuming 330 mL (11 ounces), or little more than half a pint, of either 5.2 percent or 0% alcohol lager beer every day for four weeks. Prior to and following the four weeks, the laboratory obtained blood and stool samples.
The post-beer blood and stool samples revealed a greater variety of gut bacteria than the pre-beer ones. More significantly, both groups had increased biodiversity, demonstrating that alcohol is unrelated to this development.
Read more: Benefits Of Alcohol Every Millennial Should Know For The Next Party Excuse
The study’s corresponding author, Ana Faria, a metabolism and food scientist at the Comprehensive Health Research Center, says that the outcomes from the two groups were comparable and “equally positive” as reported by the Inverse.
This study suggests that the benefits of beer for the gut come from a variety of sources, including polyphenols, which are antioxidant-rich nutrients from plants. In the case of beer, it is barley or wheat; postbiotics, a term for the byproducts produced when fibre and other foods are digested by gut bacteria; and, of course, fibre itself, which our bodies cannot digest but which the microbes in the stomach can. And certainly, fibre is present in beer.
Even though this study seems to support the occasional beer consumption, it does not encourage people to drink more. Although we already know that drinking too much alcohol is bad for you, additional research is needed to confirm these encouraging but preliminary results.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Travel and Leisure, Inverse, Medical Daily
Find the blogger: @SreemayeeN
This post is tagged under: beer, beer lover, alcohol, good for gut health, stomach health, health, study, research, fibre, good microbes
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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