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Bier Lovers
Corner: Bier and your health
Other
Health Effects of Moderate Beer Consumption
How much alcohol is present in beer?
There is a considerable amount of debate
among scientists on the questions of how
much beer per day is healthy, and at which
consumption level beer drinking become
excessive and a problem. Their objective is
to define the line between healthy use and
unhealthy abuse of alcohol, in beer or
otherwise, and to arrive at physiological
thresholds which constitute meaningful
recommendations to nutritionists and end
consumers.
A beverage’s alcohol content is usually
given in alcohol by volume (abv). This value
differs from the value for alcohol by weight
(abw) which is also frequently disclosed on
beer labels. Because alcohol is lighter than
water, the abv-value is always larger than
the abw-value. One milliliter of alcohol
weighs 0.793 grams. Therefore, we can
convert an abv-value into an abw-value by
multiplying it by 0.793 or dividing it by
1.261. Example: A typical Bavarian Helles
might have an alcohol content of 4.8% abv.
This translates into 4.8 x 0.793 = 3.8% abw.
The division 4.8/1.261 yields the same
result. In other words, one liter of that
same 4.8% Bavarian Helles contains 48
milliliters or about 38 grams of alcohol.
Consumer Recommendations from the US and the
UK
While scientists study alcohol issues mostly
from the perspective of physiology,
governments around the world, when making
recommendations to their alcohol-consuming
public, also tend to consider issues
relating to social customs, religion, and
culture.
In the most recent (fourth) edition of
"Dietary Guidelines for Americans," issued
jointly by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services in December 1995,
Americans are being admonished: "If you
drink alcoholic beverages, do so in
moderation." The document defines “moderate"
as no more than 1 drink per day for women
and 2 drinks per day for men, and a “drink”
of beer, in turn, is defined as one 12-ounce
bottle (approximately 355 milliliters). The
American government, in other words,
recommends that women drink 0.355 liters of
standard (4.8% abv) beer, and men drink 0.71
liters.
That same month, the U.K. Department of
Health published its official alcohol
guidelines for British citizens, which are
more generous than the American guidelines,
especially for women. The British document
specifies the amount of alcohol that
protects women against heart attack as 24
grams per day. For men, it specifies that
amount as 32 grams per day. Converted for an
English Bitter of 4.8% abv, British women,
therefore, can drink about 0.62 liters of
beer per day, and men, 0.83 liters per day.
Following these American and British
government guidelines, men should be able to
consume between roughly 70 and 80 U.S.
gallons (approximately 260 - 300 liters) of
4.8% abv beer per year without any negative
health effects. The equivalent figures for
women are roughly 35 - 60 U.S. gallons (130
- 225 liters). These figures compare well to
the statistical average per capita of beer
consumption in the United States, which is
at slightly above 20 U.S. gallons (75
liters). In Germany, by comparison, these
figures are at slightly above 30 U.S.
gallons (120 liters).
What does it mean?
From this data it follows that universal
excessive beer drinking is not the real
problem. Rather, it is the uneven
distribution of alcohol consumption —
including beer consumption — in
society. There is a minority in society
which clearly drinks too much. In this
context, alcohol consumption during
pregnancy, in conjunction with medications,
before driving a motor vehicle, or while on
the job can be labeled “abuse,” even if it
remains below an otherwise defensible
physiological threshold.
The overwhelming majority of beer drinkers,
however, enjoy their beverage of choice
responsibly. Yet the target of many
neo-prohibitionist policy makers nowadays is
to curb alcohol misuse through measures that
affect everybody, including the responsible
drinker. Such measures, which would
indiscriminately and drastically reduce the
average consumption of alcohol by all,
usually involve increases in alcohol taxes
and more involved licensing regulations —
with the often unstated agenda of ultimately
eliminating alcohol consumption all
together. Considering, however, that the
majority of the population consumes alcohol
in moderation and within medically
recommended limits, the efficacy of alcohol
policies targeted at the general public must
be questioned, if, indeed, their stated
objective is the elimination of alcohol
abuse.
Drink in moderation — but regularly!
If one wants to summarize all the
international studies about the effects of
alcohol consumption on the body and to turn
their findings into a recommendation for
consumers for the proper amount of beer to
drink for optimum health, the following
guidelines for “moderate beer consumption”
emerge:
Men should not drink more than 40 grams
(about 1.7 U.S. fluid ounces) of alcohol per
day. This is the rough equivalent of one
liter or two pints of beer. Women, on the
other hand, should not consume more than
half that quantity. Based on studies by
Professor Keil (quoted above) this rate of
consumption ensures the statistically lowest
mortality rate for all individuals.
This information comes from the webpage of
the
Bavarian Brewery Association, please visit
them at:
http://www.bayerisches-bier.de/
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