My friend Glenn Payne, who was in last week from England for SF Beer Week, sent in this story from the UK’s Independent entitled When “Bad” Food Turns Good. The story is about a number of foods that used to be thought of as being bad for you, such as red meat, oily food, cheese, potatoes, eggs, coffee and chocolate, that are now being reevaluated based on recent research that has found them not only not as bad as previously thought, but more importantly with some specific health benefits. In addition to the foods listed, the article also includes beer among them, and author Roger Dobson has this to say about it:

Despite its reputation, evidence is showing that beer can have health benefits. Moderate amounts have been linked to a protective effect in cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis, as well as increasing good cholesterol, boosting immune defences, and preventing blood-clotting. German researchers in Heidelberg say a key factor is that beer is high in antioxidants; about 80 per cent of its antioxidants are from barley and 20 per cent from hops, and they work individually and together against cancer to stop it developing and growing. Evidence has accumulated in the past decade pointing to the cancer-preventing potential of beer constituents, including the flavonoids xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol. The Council of Scientific Research in Madrid found that the level of a number of immune system cells increases significantly after 30 days, particularly in women. Researchers at Tufts University in the US say that silicate found in beer seems to reduce bone loss.

Nothing new, but always good to see the benefits in print while the New Drys continue to fulminate with uninformed intolerance that alcohol has no positive aspects.