Beer's Benefits: Healthy Beverage When You're Under The Weather?

Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks worldwide, with a long history of consumption. It is made by brewing and fermenting cereal grains with yeast, hops, and flavouring agents. While moderate consumption of beer has been linked to several health benefits, including improved heart health and blood sugar control, stronger bones, and reduced dementia risk, excessive drinking can lead to negative health consequences. Heavy drinking is associated with an increased risk of depression, liver disease, weight gain, certain cancers, and other issues. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the potential benefits and risks of beer consumption, especially when considering drinking while sick, as it may have interactions or impacts on the body that could affect recovery.

Beer may help with bone density

Another study, the Framingham Offspring cohort, which included 1,182 men and 1,537 women, found that moderate beer drinking of 1-2 beers per day was associated with increased bone density in both men and women. The study also showed that women who drank more than two beers per day had significantly greater bone density (by 5% to 8.3%), but in men, bone density decreased with consumption of more than two beers per day.

The positive effects of beer on bone density may be due to its high silicon content, which is a major constituent of beer. Silicon is known to promote bone formation and is well absorbed by the body. Additionally, the phytoestrogens found in hops, a common ingredient in beer, may also contribute to increased bone density.

However, it is important to note that excessive alcohol consumption, including beer, can have negative effects on bone health. According to the National Osteoporosis Society, an alcohol intake of more than two units per day can increase the risk of breaking a bone. Therefore, while moderate beer consumption may have benefits for bone density, it should be consumed in moderation as part of a healthy lifestyle.

It can disrupt your sleep

Alcohol can disrupt your sleep, even if you only consume a small amount during the day. A 2018 study found that men who drank two or fewer alcoholic servings and women who drank one or fewer servings experienced a 9.3% decrease in sleep quality.

Alcohol can alter your sleep architecture, which refers to how your body cycles through the four stages of sleep. Typically, sleep begins with three non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stages, followed by rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Each stage serves a different function and is necessary for sleep to feel refreshing. When you go to bed with alcohol in your system, you will likely experience more deep sleep and less REM sleep in the first half of the night. In the second half, once your body has metabolized the alcohol, you will likely experience more frequent wakings and fragmented, low-quality sleep.

Alcohol can also disrupt your sleep by contributing to sleep disorders and interfering with your circadian rhythm. It can aggravate snoring and sleep apnea, a disorder that causes repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. Alcohol causes the muscles in the throat, mouth, and nose to relax, blocking airflow and increasing the likelihood of snoring and sleep apnea episodes.

Additionally, heavy alcohol use can lead to the development of insomnia, a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling and staying asleep. Insomnia is a risk factor for alcohol use disorder, as many individuals turn to alcohol as a sleep aid. This can create a destructive pattern where individuals drink alcohol to fall asleep, experience poor sleep, and then rely on caffeine to counteract daytime sleepiness, further disrupting their sleep.

To minimize the impact of alcohol on your sleep, experts recommend avoiding alcohol at least three hours before bed.

Beer may cause digestive issues

Alcohol can also affect how the body breaks down nutrients, and can negatively alter the bacteria in the gut. It can prevent the gut from absorbing nutrients as well as it usually does, and can cause intestinal inflammation. This can lead to a condition known as 'leaky gut syndrome', where the lining of the intestine is permeated, making the body more susceptible to alcohol-related diseases, such as alcoholic fatty liver disease.

The more a person drinks, the more likely they are to experience these effects. However, this can be mitigated by eating a meal before drinking alcohol, drinking in moderation, and staying hydrated.

Beer may increase your risk of chronic diseases

Heavy drinking has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, particularly in the upper aero-digestive tract, liver, colorectum, and female breast. Additionally, heavy drinking is a risk factor for chronic pancreatitis and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which are associated with pancreatic cancer.

When it comes to cardiovascular disease, heavy drinking can increase the risk of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, stroke, and myocardial infarction. However, light to moderate drinking may have protective effects on cardiovascular health.

In terms of diabetes, there is a U-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and diabetes risk, with moderate drinking associated with a lower risk and heavy drinking leading to an increased risk.

Obesity is another chronic disease that can be influenced by alcohol consumption, with heavy drinking contributing to additional risks.

It is important to note that the effects of alcohol consumption on chronic disease risk can be modified by various factors such as drinking patterns, genetic susceptibility, smoking status, diet, and hormone levels.

Beer allergies and intolerances

Beer allergies are rare, and it is more likely that you have an allergy to one of the many ingredients in beer. These include malt barley, brewer's yeast, hops, and assorted flavourings.

If you are allergic to beer, you will probably experience symptoms similar to other allergic reactions, such as abdominal pain, bloating, and chest tightness. An allergic reaction to food usually occurs within a couple of hours, but reactions involving hives, wheezing, and chest pain can occur almost immediately and should be treated as severe and life-threatening.

If you have very mild symptoms, you may have a food sensitivity or intolerance rather than a true allergy. Food intolerance occurs when your digestive system has trouble with a particular food. Symptoms are typically less serious and are often limited to digestive problems like gas, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, cramping, and nausea.

If you feel ill after drinking alcohol but don't experience symptoms at any other time, you may have an alcohol intolerance. Alcohol intolerance is a genetic condition, not an allergy to the ingredients in beer. It means your body can't effectively break down alcohol. Alcohol intolerance is most common in people of Asian descent.

If you have symptoms after drinking beer, you should see your doctor. They can help determine if you're allergic to a specific ingredient in the beer, and you may be referred to an allergist or gastroenterologist.

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