Best Thing About Beer
By Laurel House, QuickieChick Editor
Beer contains polyphenols, antioxidants that regulate the immune system and suppress genes involved in provoking stress and inflammation. Fruits and plants contain polyphenols as well, but these antioxidants are more effective when found in a combination, which they are in beer. The multiple polyphenols in beer even make it more effective at reducing inflammation than ibuprofen.
Research has found that wheat beer can reduce muscle inflammation and the occurrence of upper respiratory illness. One study took 277 marathoners and split them into two groups. One group drinking non-alcoholic beer and another a placebo drink. The participants drank 34 to 50 ounces of their respective beverages every day for 3 weeks leading up to the Munich Marathon, and for two weeks after.
The participants in the study were drinking non-alcoholic servings, but don’t feel guilty for getting a little buzz with your benefits if you prefer the real deal. Alcoholic beer contains twice as many polyphenols, so you can reap the same benefits from just half as much beer—that’s 1 pint per day—leading up to a marathon or physically taxing event.
