Those that drink beer have their reasons, so also those that don’t drink. A research on beer consumption was conducted recently on about 50 journalists. The reasons for those that drink beer include relaxation, beer goes with food, easing stress, feeling good and it brings people together. Non adherents hate the taste, smell, cannot stand alcohol content; believe that it leads to misbehaviour, because of sugar content and religion. Others say it makes people grow pot belly, it is full of chemicals, it is not good for old age and it is a guy drink.
Some non- indulgees prefer wine. Both beer and wine contain varying degrees of alcohol and other substances which, like any other food may be beneficial and inconveniencing to certain people when abused.
But sometimes, beer unlike wine in the same alcoholic beverage has become a controversial subject with a lot of negatives attached to it. Some of the (mis)conceptions about beer are: it is fattening, makes people grow pot belly and that it is responsible for accidents on the roads. Among some people, beer has suffered brand value. This is could be on the premise that it is the type of alcoholic drink usually taken on the streets by all indulgees and all comers and its effect when abused are easily noticed.
According to experts, “beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the saccharification of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. The starch and saccharification enzymes are often derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat. Most beer is also flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative “
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At the recent first Nigerian Beer and Health Symposium in Lagos where stakeholders examined the product, experts said in spite of the misgivings about the product when consumed in moderation have some health benefits. According to them, the benefits included silicon for bone midline density, high fibre content, antioxidants, including minerals such as phosphorus, iodine and potassium.
Those who spoke at the symposium wondered why the story of beer is little appreciated or understood as audiences are overwhelmed by negative images. Beer made from four natural ingredients – water (about 90 percent), malted barley, yeast and hops – “contains zero fat contains zero cholesterol, contains fiber, has low calorie content – about as much as orange juice, rich in B vitamins and minerals (magnesium, silicon, potassium), has high in anti-oxidants and beer is low in alcohol compared with many other alcoholic beverages” Tony Agenmonmen, Senior Strategy Manager, Nigerian Breweries Plc told the audience.
Olu Malomo of College of Food Sciences, Bells University of Technology, who traced the history of beer to over 7,000 years ago as prepared by women as part of household chores said on the positive side, inclusion of gluten free cereals like sorghum, maize, or rice in the brewing of beer as is practiced in Nigeria will help in preventing celiac diseases.
“It has been shown scientifically that gluten free diets help in eliminating celiac diseases; diseases that trigger autoimmune enteropathy, affect the intestinal mucosa by rendering it functionally impaired resulting in total atrophy of the intestinal mucosa”.
In his illuminating presentations, titled: Beer as part of healthy lifestyles, Tola Atinmo who was president of Nutrition Society of Nigeria said the story of beer is not a new one but the positive sides gets relatively untold. He stated that people are basically uninformed about the positives aspects of beer in Nigeria, though the country has some breweries and there are millions of drinkers keeping them in business.
According to him a healthy lifestyle is achieved through healthy eating and drinking; adequate rest, and stress management; physical and spiritual exercise, abstinence from smoking and hygiene and sanitation.
He said those suffering from lower abdominal obesity otherwise known as pot belly or beer belly should blame other attitudes in their lives than drinking. Against long standing beliefs that beer contains chemicals and is injurious to health and do not go well with food as against alcoholic beverages like wine, the professor stated that beer is made from four natural ingredients -water, barley, hops and yeast and ranks as one of the world’s healthiest drinks ever.
Researchers have also corroborated positions that beer is not the cause of pot belly.
Other speakers at the symposium including Olaokun Soyinka, a medical doctor and Sina Shofola, a lawyer agreed that moderate drinking helps the body. According to Soyinka, too much beer of wine of disrupts sex, makes one weak and little of it helps. He told drinkers to be at the ‘J’ curve for a healthy lifestyle. All the speakers emphasized moderation in beer drinking to enjoy its benefits.
Daniel Obi
