Low to moderate daily beer consumption – one drink per day for women and two for men – can protect against cardiovascular disease. This is one of the conclusions from a comprehensive review of recent literature on beer consumption, health and disease by an international panel of experts.
Confirmation
This review shows that many thoughts on the health effects of alcohol consumption, also apply to moderate beer consumption. A reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease was found. The classic J-curve for all-cause mortality also applies to beer consumption. Whether beer consumption specifically protects against dementia remains uncertain, but moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk. An increased risk for head, neck and breast cancer was apparent with low alcohol consumption. Other alcohol-related cancers are only associated with heavy alcohol consumption and 85 to 90% of all alcohol-related cancer cases are caused by heavy drinking around the world. The specific role of (moderate) beer consumption in cancer risk cannot yet be determined.
Beverage-specific differences
The health effects from moderate beer consumption also apply to wine, but there are doubts whether drinking a moderate amount of spirits has the same results. A greater cardiovascular protection was seen for beer and wine. Multiple reasons are proposed for this difference. Spirits have a high alcohol concentration and do not contain polyphenols. A smaller group of people tend to drink spirits compared to beer and wine, which can influence study results.
The composition of beer
Low to moderate beer consumption was defined as one beer per day for women and two beers per day for men. In this study one drink is equivalent to 12 grams of alcohol. It contains mostly carbohydrates and no fat or cholesterol. One can of 330 ml beer contains on average 140 kcal (according to the USDA), around 7% of the total energy intake of the general population (2.000 kcal). Scientific evidence however shows moderate beer consumption does not increase the risk of abdominal obesity (the beer belly), but heavy beer consumption does (more than 60 grams per day). Beer also contains small amounts of B-vitamins, polyphenols, and compounds such as silicon. More research is needed to determine effects of these beer compounds on health and disease.
Alcohol-free beer
While many of the health effects of beer are due to alcohol, some cardioprotective results were found for alcohol-free beer, showing the non-alcoholic fractions of beer might also be involved. These results are mostly found in animal and cell studies in which very high doses of polyphenols are used. More research is therefore warranted.
Systematic review
Multiple international scientists conducted this review. They performed a literature search on beer and alcohol consumption in relation to health and disease and compiled a consensus document, meaning all contributors unanimously approved the final version of this article.