Grains
trump grapes? Beer more healthy than wine
Newswise — Contrary to popular opinion, beer is as healthy—if not
more healthy—than wine, according to a university professor with an
academic title any Joe Six-pack would relish.
Charles Bamforth, chairman of the
food science department at the University of California at Davis and
an Anheuser-Busch endowed professor, told food scientists assembled
here Tuesday that beer contains valuable B vitamins, such as B12,
folic acid and niacin, as well as antioxidants, such as polyphenols
and ferulic acid.
Bamforth, author of the book Beer:
Health and Nutrition says beer also has soluble fiber, which is good
for digestion, and the active ingredient in alcohol—whether from
beer or wine—helps counter blockage of the arteries.
“People say red wine is key to
that,” Bamforth said. “But beer, if you looked at it holistically,
is healthier than wine. But it is not perceived that way.”
“It’s entirely about perception.”
And it’s those perceptions that Bamforth has recently been studying.
After polling 325 men and woman
visiting breweries on both U.S. coasts and the Midwest, Bamforth
found that the nutritional understanding of people about beer was
largely in error.
When asked which is the healthiest
alcoholic beverage, drinkers put red wine followed by white wine at
the top of the list. Then came light beer, light-colored beer and
then dark-beer. Actually, there’s little difference health-wise
between any of them, according to Bamforth.
Does beer have sugar? Fat?
Preservatives? On all counts, those polled said it did. In every
instance, they were wrong. Only 39 percent believed beer contained
vitamins and minerals. Few believed it contained antioxidants.
When asked to rank which sources
of information they consider credible, Bamforth’s beer drinkers
placed doctors at the top of the list. Bamforth claims many
physicians are among those that are misinformed about beer.
“I have a friend who is a doctor
who says, ‘Don’t drink beer because it has fat,’ said Bamforth.
“There’s no fat in it at all.”
Bamforth says the beer industry
has been slow to counter consumers’ false perceptions in part
because beer companies don’t want to be perceived as pushing alcohol
on teenagers.
Bamforth presented his research at
that Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting + FOOD EXPO®,
the world’s largest annual food science forum and exposition.
Founded in 1939, and with
world headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Institute of Food
Technologists is a not-for-profit international scientific society
with 22,000 members working in food science, technology and related
professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for
food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public
discussion of food issues. For more on IFT, see
http://www.ift.org.