Guinness Is Good For You
Rick
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Pint O'Guinness Keeps Doc Away
By KEVIN HUNT
The Hartford Courant
Last update: 12 May 2004
A man walks into a bar, orders a 12-ounce bottle of Corona Extra.
Another man walks in, orders a 12-ounce Guinness draft.
The two men turn to each other, raise their glasses and say,
"Here's to your health."
Question: Whose dietary and health interests are better served by
the 12-ounce beer?
If the guidelines are less alcohol, fewer calories, fewer
carbohydrates and, to top it off, protection against heart attacks,
blindness and maybe even impotence, then it's the Guinness drinker,
hands down.
No joke.
Guinness, in fact, is lower in alcohol, calories and carbohydrates
than Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Heineken and almost every other
major-brand beer not classified as light or low-carb. It has fewer
calories and carbohydrates than low-fat milk and orange juice, too.
Could this be the same Irish stout that looks like a still-life
root-beer float and tastes about as filling as a quarter-pounder
with cheese?
Yes, the same Guinness that beer expert Michael Jackson (the
British king of hops) calls the world's classic dry stout. It's a
favorite of Bono (obviously), Madonna (with a good cigar) and Matt
Damon (no, Guinness does not make teeth unnaturally white).
This tastes-great, more-filling formula defies nutritional
expectations because Guinness is so low in alcohol, a source of
empty calories. Guinness is 4.2 percent alcohol by volume, the same
as Coors Light. Budweiser and Heineken check in at 5 percent.
"That surprised me," says Dr. Joseph Brennan, a Yale-New Haven
Hospital cardiologist of Irish heritage and a confirmed Guinness
drinker.
"I could never understand why one or two wouldn't leave me light-
headed."
Brennan, like many cardiologists, recommends a drink a day for his
cardiac patients. Red wine, in particular, has been shown to help
prevent heart attacks. Now maybe it's beer's turn. A University of
Wisconsin study last fall found that moderate consumption of
Guinness worked like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the
risk of heart attacks.
In the study, Guinness proved twice as effective as Heineken at
preventing blood clots. Guinness is loaded with flavonoids,
antioxidants that give the dark color to many fruits and
vegetables.
These antioxidants are better than vitamins C and E, the study
found, at keeping bad LDL cholesterol from clogging arteries.
Blocked arteries also contributes to erectile dysfunction, as does
overindulgence in alcohol.
Guinness has a higher concentration than lighter beers of vitamin
B, which lowers levels of homocysteine, linked to clogged arteries.
And researchers have found that antioxidants from the moderate use
of stout might reduce the incidence of cataracts by as much as 50
percent.
It's milk's line, but beer gives you strong bones, too.
"The reason, we think, is that beer is a major contributor to the
diet of silicon," says Katherine Tucker, an associate professor of
nutritional epidemiology at Tufts University's Friedman School of
Nutrition Science and Policy.
Tucker recently participated in a study that showed beer, either
dark or light, protects bone-mineral density because of its high
levels of silicon, which allows the deposit of calcium and other
minerals into bone tissue.
In Ireland, where the slogan "Guinness Is Good for You" was born,
the stout's medicinal uses are the stuff of legend. Diageo, the
U.S. distributor of Guinness, makes no claims about its medical
benefits, says spokeswoman Beth Davies from the company's offices
in Stamford, Conn.
But a visitor to Ireland might hear accounts (most no longer, if
ever, true) of Guinness administered to nursing mothers, blood
donors, stomach and intestinal post-operative patients and mothers
recovering from childbirth.
"Pregnant women and racehorses, one a day," says Michael Foley of
Wethersfield, Conn., standing over a pint of Guinness in the
subterranean bar at the Irish American Home Society in Glastonbury,
Conn.
Racehorses?
Foley, who left Castlemaine, County Kerry, 43 years ago but retains
a Guinness-thick brogue, returns a cocked-head glance that says,
loosely translated from Gaelic, "Duh."
"It's made from barley, you know," he says.
True. Roasted and malted barley (it gives Guinness its deep ruby
color), hops, yeast and water from the Wicklow Mountains, south of
Dublin. Guinness gets its rich, creamy head from a mixture of
nitrogen and carbon dioxide when dispensed from a tap.
Our man who ordered that 12-ounce Guinness obviously wasn't in an
Irish pub, which serves the stout in a 20-ounce imperial-pint glass
after a deliberate, often agonizing, two-part pour that allows the
beer to settle. But if he knows what's good for him, maybe he'll
stick around for one more.
"Most health research," says Tucker, "suggests that benefits,
including protection against heart disease, are noted with up to
one drink per day for women and up to two a day for men. Above this
amount, the negative effects of alcohol seem to outweigh the
positive effects."
Funbox
"Rick" <r...@REMOVE.winfirst.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94E8C94679...@216.168.3.44...
Randal Chapman
> If only it didn't taste like unsweetened tea.
>
Unsweetened tea? I don't get that flavor at all.
It's too bad the author of this article holds up the ridiculous
"Guinness is filling" notion. Is this because it is black? Is that
supposed to make it thick somehow because you cannot see through it.
Is Coca-Cola filling, you cannot see through it either.
Lauksna
"Randal Chapman" <fran...@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:82f33a89.04051...@posting.google.com...
I find it filling also, but not because it's black. That makes no sense! (to
me) I love love love Guinness! That roasting just slays me every time. All
my friends hate it though...Oh well, more for me.
Randal Chapman
>
> I find it filling also, but not because it's black. That makes no sense! (to
> me) I love love love Guinness! That roasting just slays me every time. All
> my friends hate it though...Oh well, more for me.
Many many "superstitions" around beer make no sense. Believe me I've
had more than one redneck tell me Guinness is "lahk moter oyal"
because of it's black color alone. Guinness is quite lite bodied and
lite in alcohol. If it were a stronger, higher gravity beer then I
would buy that it is truly filling, but it just isn't.
If you love Guinness you should explore the world of stouts beyond. So
many stouts are SO much better than Guinness you would be amazed! Try
Oasis Zoser, Rogue Shakespear, Sheaf, Lion, Sierra Nevada, Anderson
Valley and many others!
_Randal
Bill Becker
Maybe she has a secret stash of the extra stout from Ireland. That's one I
miss, for sure.
Best regards,
Bill
PS: Zonker Stout, Bell's Expedition, Great Divide Imperial, Victory Storm
King, Cooper's Extra, Sam Smith's Imperial..
more stouts that kick arse. ;^)
Lauksna
"Bill Becker" <bb...@rmisp.com> wrote in message
news:2gnmt1F...@uni-berlin.de...
Got 'em wrote down. Exploration beginning! ^_^
-no stash Mr. B :)
jessk...@yah00.com
>
> Many many "superstitions" around beer make no sense.
Tell me about it. (Check out the Old School Cheap Beer thread, were a
guy thinks that Pabst "can't" change it's recipe because it says
"Original" on the label...).
Guinness certainly has more than it's share of superstitions.
Believe me I've
> had more than one redneck tell me Guinness is "lahk moter oyal"
> because of it's black color alone.
Well, that concept is not limited to "rednecks"- seems MOST people think
that, even Guinness drinkers (who are just as guilty about Guinness
myths) and even the Irish...
Guinness is quite lite bodied and
> lite in alcohol.
Yes, but it DOES have a (to use food industry jargon) good "mouthfeel"
(ie, feels as if you mouth is "coated") which many people equate-
wrongly- with a beer being heavily bodied.
If it were a stronger, higher gravity beer then I
> would buy that it is truly filling, but it just isn't.
Filling? Ain't that the white creme inside a Twinkie? Seems to me the
term filling was invited by Miller Lite ad execs and doesn't really mean
much. I mean, I find a liter bottle of Poland Spring to be "filling".
Carbonation in beer adds as much to it being "filling" as anything else
and since MANY people drink directly out of a can or bottle (rather than
pouring it into a glass and releasing excess C02), seems they don't mind
a filling beer.
Russ Perry Jr
> "Bill Becker" <bb...@rmisp.com> wrote:
> > "Randal Chapman" <fran...@swbell.net> wrote:
> > > If you love Guinness you should explore the world of stouts beyond.
> > > So
> > > many stouts are SO much better than Guinness you would be amazed! Try
> > > Oasis Zoser, Rogue Shakespear, Sheaf, Lion, Sierra Nevada, Anderson
> > > Valley and many others!
> > PS: Zonker Stout, Bell's Expedition, Great Divide Imperial, Victory
> > Storm King, Cooper's Extra, Sam Smith's Imperial..
> > more stouts that kick arse. ;^)
> Got 'em wrote down. Exploration beginning! ^_^
If you like Sheaf, you might also try Old Australian Stout; if you like
sweet beers, try Dragon Stout too. And as long as Bill is bringing up
Imperials, try Rogue's Imperial Stout too.
--
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Scott Roper
Add to that list O'Hara's Celtic Stout from Carlow Brewing Company.
-Scott Roper
Randal Chapman
> (ie, feels as if you mouth is "coated") which many people equate-
> wrongly- with a beer being heavily bodied.
I think that is due to it's lower carbonation levels more than actual
body. I could be wrong but I don't think Guinness has a whole lot of
unfermentable dextrins hanging around, and most recipes I've seen for
it don't call for additions of the kinds of malts that are going to
leave that sort of thing (or mashing temps).
True, the people quaffing bottle after bottle of fizzy beer get fooled
into thinking that their beers are lighter because of the carbonation
even while gassing up their insides, so good point about Miller in
fact being more "filling"!
_Randal
Colin Graham
superstitions - some are true, when I was about 7 years old the doctor
prescribed me a bottle of Guinness a day, for iron deficiency. This was
presumably because up until recently bottled Guinness here in Ireland was
naturally carbonated...
"Scott Roper" <digitalfenc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vR9qc.149$o07...@fe39.usenetserver.com...
notbob
> prescribed me a bottle of Guinness a day, for iron deficiency. This was
> presumably because up until recently bottled Guinness here in Ireland was
> naturally carbonated...
What does iron deficiency have to do with natural carbonation?
ng
--
Be considerate of others and
trim your followups. Thank you.
Colin Graham
"notbob" <not...@nothome.com> wrote in message
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