Summer drink: sparkling and fresh... without alcohol

2001/08/12 Mendiburu, Joana - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Osasuna

When you can, the tavern listens three reeds and five whites, and when he starts out, the neighbor says "to me another five reeds". If you have not yet noticed the amount of beer that is drunk in Euskal Herria, you will go on a party to turn around. In the bars there are also more and more possibilities and it does not seem that the consumption of the beer should know the descents. In this sense, the producers of beer will be calm.

Alcohol-free beer is a drink suitable for people with high blood pressure.

But in recent years there has also been a great novelty in this sector: beer without alcohol. Most brands have taken off, and thanks to advertising, consumption is growing little by little.

But more than one will think that non-alcoholic beer is not ‘natural’ (as if the rods that the tavern has brought us before were ‘natural’), but without going into the naturalness of the ingredients of and the other, it is clear that non-alcoholic beer can bring many benefits. It says so, at least, the study that the Spanish Society of Dietary and Food Sciences published in March under the title "Beer without alcohol and its properties".

The heart will thank you

Non-alcoholic beer can be a drink suitable for people with high blood pressure. The factors that contribute to hypertension have been identified for a long time and should be avoided to the extent possible. These factors are usually the presence of cases of hypertension in the family, smoking, physical and emotional stress, obesity and increased salt. According to Antonio Villarmo, professor at the university who participated in the study, a bottle without alcohol contains 10 mg of calcium and potassium and, on the contrary, very little sodium (4.5 mg/100 ml). In addition, it can help fight cardiovascular diseases and some cancers, as some beer compounds are antioxidants.

It is necessary to drink with measure because it is not true that the beer without alcohol has no alcohol.

It can also be a drink suitable for hypocalorics (water is not bad either) due to its low energy value (14 kcal/100 ml). According to Antonio Villarmo, it can be included in the non-alcoholic hypocaloric beer diet, which has three times fewer calories than soda and less than a serving of fruit. Thus, it can be a drink to break the monotony before getting bored of drinking water and becoming an unsustainable diet.

During pregnancy without alcohol

For those who have no risk of hypertension, but can't try alcohol for nine months, drinking water can always be boring. For this case it can also be an adequate drink, but eye, because it is not true that non-alcoholic beer does not contain alcohol. Traditional beer is about 8% alcohol, and what we call non-alcoholic beer ranges between 0.5 and 1 g alcohol. Considering this fact, you have to drink with measure, but it can be really beneficial.

Beer without alcohol (almost alcohol-free, better said) can be a source of folic acid. Folic acid is necessary for cell development, and pregnant women should not have that shortage to prevent the child from having a bifida spine. At present, all pregnant women receive this information and gynecologists provide them with the daily pill they should take at the time of pregnancy and during breastfeeding. In this way, it is assured that the child takes enough of this vitamin. This does not mean contempt for other sources. Normal beer contains 3.5 mg of folic acid per 100 ml and non-alcoholic 5 mg. According to Dr. Villarmo, a 33 cl bottle covers 10% of daily needs.

However, despite the fact that so far attention has focused mainly on women, men also participate at the same level in reproduction and should care for their habits and behaviors. Reproductive health is known to be influenced by diet, alcohol consumption, etc. In addition, with a low content of folic acid, the risk is that the chromosomes are damaged. Therefore, it would also not harm men who occasionally abandoned beer with alcohol and drink it without alcohol.

Against anemia and dehydration

Non-alcoholic beer is also beneficial for those who are not pregnant but have poor eating habits, as folic acid can help prevent anemia.

As age, dehydration and the risk of developing degenerative nervous diseases like Alzheimer's advances, it is not harmful to drink beer without alcohol. In fact, 95% of non-alcoholic beer is water, and folic acid and some calories are not excessive at that age. However, it should be noted that the elderly does not suffer glucose or insulin alterations, in which case the suitability of consumption should be assessed.

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