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Beer Has Heart Health Properties Too
posted 12/06/02
The team from TNO Nutrition
and Food Research in the Netherlands tested markers for cardiovascular events in
a group of healthy middle-aged subjects who drank three or four glasses of beer
with dinner and found significant results after three weeks.
In the study, the
researchers tested the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, both
markers for systemic inflammation. It is now recognized that this inflammation
within arteries contributes considerably to the initiation and progression of
coronary heart disease - the leading cause of death in the developed world.
Recent studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with
decreased CRP concentrations.
Ten healthy
middle-aged men and nine post-menopausal women consumed beer or no-alcohol beer
with evening dinner during two successive periods of three weeks. During the
beer period, alcohol intake was 40g for men (four glasses) and 30g (three
glasses) for women. At the end of each of the two experimental periods, fasting
blood samples were collected in the morning.
The researchers report
in this month’s European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that plasma CRP
levels declined by 35 per cent after three weeks in the beer-drinking period,
with those with the highest levels of CRP showing especially good results. Blood
levels of fibrinogen also dropped and levels of HDL cholesterol rose by 11 per
cent in the beer drinkers.
These results suggest that an
anti-inflammatory action of alcohol may help explain the link between moderate
alcohol consumption and lower cardiovascular disease risk, write the scientists.
Source: Diabetes In Control Dot Com: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002;56:1130-1136.
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