This is what we all want to know, are non alcoholic beers healthy?
Sure, we know that non alcoholic beers have no alcohol, but are they actually good for us? Turns out that, as well as helping us cut down on drinking, there are considerable health benefits to drinking non alcoholic beers.
There is some great emerging research that investigates the potential health benefits of drinking low or no alcohol beers. The researchers looked at whether there are nutritional and health benefits to drinking these beers without the negative effects of consuming alcohol.
Non Alcoholic Beer and Gut Health
Everyone is interested in their gut health these days, with more and more understanding about the positive health effects of healthy gut bacteria. The good news is that a recent study found that non alcoholic beers are great for a healthy gut, enriching gut microbiota diversity and beneficial bacteria.
They found that non alcoholic beers had a more positive effect on gut health than regular beers, because the presence of alcohol in normal beer interferes with this effect.
Antioxidants
The best news to come out of the research is that powerful antioxidants are found in hops and grains used to make beer. These antioxidants (polyphenols) are important factors in reducing free radicals in the body's cells and potentially reducing risk of diseases like heart disease and cancer.
After a month of consuming non-alcoholic beer, they found triple the amount of bacteria capable of producing polyphenols and phenolic acids, such as resveratrol, which are beneficial components against cancer, diabetes or even neurodegenerative diseases.
Does non alcoholic beer make you fat?
We've all heard of beer belly, so does drinking non alcoholic beer make you gain weight? There's more good news here! Many of The Drink Swap's beers have 30-40% fewer calories than their full alcohol equivalent. This study compared a group drinking full alcohol beer to a group drinking non alcoholic beer for a month and found that the non alcoholic beer group did not gain any weight, with no increase in hip or waist circumference (no beer belly!)
Bone Health
Another surprising benefit of non alcoholic beer is that it's been shown to have positive effects on osteoporosis, particularly in postmenopausal women. In fact, low to moderate wine and beer drinking also has positive effects on osteoporosis, but non alcholic beer seems to have the same benefits, minus the negative effects of drinking too much alcohol.
What about taste?
Gone are the days of wishy washy low or no alcohol beers, there are so many innovative, flavoursome and exciting non alcoholic craft beers available these days. From bold and hoppy IPAs to zesty and light Mexican style cervazas, the taste of non alcoholic beers has never been better.With so many great non alcoholic craft beers on the market, and more Aussie non alcoholic beers launching all the time, there are so many great reasons to give them a go.