Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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A Beer A Day Is Good For Your Heart

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heart
A new study out of Greece, conducted by the Harokopio University in Athens, appears to show that drinking a pint of beer a day may be beneficial to your heart. According to the abstract from the journal Nutrition:

In a randomized, single-blind, crossover study, 17 healthy, non-smoking, men (ages 28.5 ± 5.2 y with body mass index 24.4 ± 2.5 kg/m2) consumed on three separate occasions, at least 1 wk apart: 1. 400 mL of beer and 400 mL water, 2. 800 mL of dealcoholized beer (same amount of polyphenols as in the 400 mL of beer), and 3. 67 mL of vodka and 733 mL water (same amount of alcohol as in the 400 mL of beer).

Each time aortic stiffness (pulse wave velocity), pressure wave reflections (AΙx), aortic and brachial pressure (Sphygmocor device), and endothelial function (brachial flow mediated dilatation) were assessed at fast and 1 and 2 h postprandial.

Aortic stiffness was significantly and similarly reduced by all three interventions. However, endothelial function was significantly improved only after beer consumption (average 1.33%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.15–2.53). Although wave reflections were significantly reduced by all three interventions (average of beer: 9.1%, dealcoholized beer: 2.8%, vodka 8.5%, all CI within limits of significance), the reduction was higher after beer consumption compared with dealcoholized beer (P = 0.018). Pulse pressure amplification (i.e., brachial/aortic) was increased by all three test drinks.

From which, they drew the following conclusion. “Beer acutely improves parameters of arterial function and structure, in healthy non-smokers. This benefit seems to be mediated by the additive or synergistic effects of alcohol and antioxidants and merits further investigation.” So the results are preliminary and further studies need to be done. Still, it’s a step in the right direction if drinking beer in moderation can add one more benefit to the growing number of reasons why having a beer day isn’t just an enjoyable way to live, but may also be good for you, too. I’ll drink to that.

Beer-Doctor

The Healthiest Alcoholic Drinks

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health
Today’s infographic is about The Healthiest Alcoholic Drinks, and was created by Policy Expert, a British insurance website. I hate the use of a calories as a measure of health, it makes no sense to me. Figure out how many calories you want and then do the math. Don’t pick the stuff with the lowest calories, especially if doing so means sacrificing flavor. Drink less, but drink better. But in the next chart they’re a little more reasonable, and it’s great to see in the “health facts” the statement that drinking in moderation tends to result in your living longer than folks who either abstain or drink too much.

the-healthiest-alcoholic-drinks
Click here to see the infographic full size.

Beer Flavor Triggers Dopamine In The Brain

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An interesting study recently conducted at the Indiana University School of Medicine shows a preliminary result that “[t]he taste of beer, without any effect from alcohol itself, can trigger dopamine release in the brain, which is associated with drinking and other drugs of abuse.”

The study itself, Beer Flavor Provokes Striatal Dopamine Release in Male Drinkers: Mediation by Family History of Alcoholism was published last week in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. From the press release:

Using positron emission tomography (PET), the researchers tested 49 men with two scans, one in which they tasted beer, and the second in which they tasted Gatorade, looking for evidence of increased levels of dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter long associated with alcohol and other drugs of abuse. The scans showed significantly more dopamine activity following the taste of beer than the sports drink. Moreover, the effect was significantly greater among participants with a family history of alcoholism.

“We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain’s reward centers,” said David A. Kareken, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the IU School of Medicine and the deputy director of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center.

The stronger effect in participants with close alcoholic relatives suggests that the release of dopamine in response to such alcohol-related cues may be an inherited risk factor for alcoholism, said Dr. Kareken.

Research for several decades has linked dopamine to the consumption of various drugs of abuse, although researchers have differing interpretations of the neurotransmitter’s role. Sensory cues that are closely associated with drug intoxication (ranging from tastes and smells to the sight of a tavern) have long been known to spark cravings and induce treatment relapse in recovering alcoholics. Many neuroscientists believe that dopamine plays a critical role in such cravings.

The study participants received a very small amount of their preferred beer — 15 milliliters — over a 15-minute time period, enabling them to taste the beer without resulting in any detectable blood alcohol level or intoxicating effect.

Using a PET scanning compound that targets dopamine receptors in the brain, the researchers were able to assess changes in dopamine levels occurring after the participants tasted the liquids.

In addition to the PET scan results, participants reported an increased beer craving after tasting beer, without similar responses after tasting the sports drink — even though many thought the Gatorade actually tasted better, said Brandon G. Oberlin, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow and first author of the paper.

With the study only using a cohort of under fifty people, the results will probably not settle the question, and the UK Guardian’s science writer takes issue with it in Beer, dopamine and brain scans make an intoxicating mix. But it seems to be a good first step toward a better understanding of how dopamine is related to drinking and even alcoholism. The most interesting find is that it appears that dopamine is released by the brain even if there’s no alcohol present, just the taste of beer is all that the brain seems to need. If further studies bear out the findings, this could be significant.

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