Is Beer an Anti-aging Supplement?

How moderate beer consumption could be an anti-aging supplement.

Moderate beer consumption:

• Protects you from cardiovascular disease.
• Reduces your mortality risk.
• Increases your bone Density.

Introduction

I remember (many years ago) when my trainer asked me what post-workout supplement I consumed. I responded ‘Beer’.

The look of horror and the following uncomfortable silence were priceless!

These days, I consume a high-quality protein supplement immediately after I train, and I recommend that you do as well. That said, a cold beer was my preferred post-workout supplement for a long time.

Which may explain why I was so happy to find the recent article by Dr Marco and Colleagues (1). This article reviews the latest research about the effect of moderate beer consumption on your health and lifespan – and how beer could be an anti-aging supplement.

“Beer, if drank with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.”

Thomas Jefferson

What the Researchers Found

Cardiovascular Health

The evidence suggests that moderate beer consumption protects you from cardiovascular disease (1). Importantly, this holds true for both men and women (1).

Mortality

More good news for lovers of beer! It turns out that moderate beer consumption reduces your overall risk of mortality (1). Again, this observation is true for both men and women.

Metabolic Health

Beer consumption is traditionally associated with obesity. Think of the iconic beer belly. However, consuming moderate amounts of beer does not increase the body weight of obese individuals (2).

In fact, moderate beer consumption ‘significantly increased the antioxidant capacity of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)’ (2). This increases cholesterol movement out of cells and may reduce plaques forming within your blood vessels (2).

Bone Health

To my surprise, moderate beer consumption was shown to increase the bone density and reduce the risk of fracture in men and women (3).

How Does Beer Improve Your Health?

There are several reasons why drinking beer could improve your health – and how beer could be an anti-aging supplement.

First, low-to-moderate alcohol consumption has several proven health benefits (4). These include increasing your levels of good fats (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), reducing the stiffness of your arteries, and lowering your levels of oxidative stress and inflammation (1).

Second, beer is rich in nutrients such as amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols (1). Phenolic compounds (that are present within the hop flowers used to flavor beer), may reduce your risk of forming blood clots (5) .

In addition, these chemicals also possess antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, bone-strengthening, and anti-viral properties (1).

Drinking Beer within The Context of a Healthy Lifestyle

How Much Beer Should You Drink?

How much beer should you drink to reap the health benefits described above?

This is an important question, because consuming too much beer (or any other form of alcohol) increases your risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death (1).

For women, moderate consumption means drinking one beer per day. For men, moderate consumption means drinking 1-2 beers per day (1).

That said, cramming your weekly volume into a single drinking session is absolutely NOT OK.

This is because binge drinking significantly increases your risk of cardiovascular disease and dying young (1).

The Benefits of Integrating Moderate Alcohol Consumption within a Healthy Lifestyle

Analyzing data from over 100,000 men and women revealed that moderate alcohol consumption increases life expectancy in men and women (4).

Importantly, by incorporating moderate alcohol consumption with other healthy lifestyle choices (such as never smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, regular physical activity, and a healthy diet), a 50-year-old woman can increase their lifespan by an average of 14 years, and a 50-year-old man by an average of 12 years (4).

Similarly, the MIND diet, which was designed to protect people from the effects of dementia, includes a glass of wine each day (6). Older adults who adhere to the MIND diet can expect, on average, a 37% lower risk of death (7).

Just remember that these studies also show that your alcohol consumption must be moderate for you to enjoy the anti-aging effects of alcohol.

Take Home Message – Is Beer An Anti Aging Supplement?

To conclude, three independent studies converge on the conclusion that moderate alcohol consumption, particularly when consumed within the context of a healthy lifestyle, can increase your lifespan (1, 4, 7).

Moreover, beer contains vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds that increase your health and longevity over and above the alcohol content (1).

So why not enjoy a cold beer in the company of friends and family while sharing a healthy meal?

Please click on the link below for your free PDF.

References and Further Reading

1.            A. Marcos et al., Moderate Consumption of Beer and Its Effects on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health: An Updated Review of Recent Scientific Evidence. Nutrients 13, 879 (2021).

2.            T. Padro et al., Moderate beer intake and cardiovascular health in overweight individuals. Nutrients 10, 1237 (2018).

3.            K. Mukamal, J. A. Robbins, J. Cauley, L. Kern, D. Siscovick, Alcohol consumption, bone density, and hip fracture among older adults: the cardiovascular health study. Osteoporosis international 18, 593-602 (2007).

4.            Y. Li et al., Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancies in the US population. Circulation 138, 345-355 (2018).

5.            G. Xin et al., Xanthohumol isolated from Humulus lupulus prevents thrombosis without increased bleeding risk by inhibiting platelet activation and mtDNA release. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 108, 247-257 (2017).

6.            M. C. Morris et al., MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement 11, 1007-1014 (2015).

7.            J. Corley, Adherence to the MIND diet is associated with 12-year all-cause mortality in older adults. Public Health Nutr, 1-10 (2020).

Acknowledgements

Images provided by PIKSEL and Hyrma