Pop vs Beer: Picking One's Poison

dogface · **Posted:** Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:55 pm

I happened upon these two articles this week:

Quote:

Beer is a rich source of a nutrient that can help prevent weak bones – but it depends what type you drink, claim researchers at University of California, Davis, today.

As one of the nation's favourite tipples, beer is a rich source of dietary silicon, which can help cut the chance of developing diseases like osteoporosis, they conclude.

However, not all beers are the same, with those containing malted barley and hops having higher silicon content than beers made from wheat.

Some light lagers made from grains like corn have the lowest levels of silicon while beers made from hops seem to come out on top, according to the study. The research, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, examined 100 commercial beers and their production methods.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/08/drinking-beer-prevent-weak-bones
Now this made me smile, being a hoppy kind of man.

Quote:

People who drink at least two sugary sodas a week have an increased risk of developing cancer of the pancreas, and researchers suspect the culprit is sugar, a new study shows.

Analyses of data collected on 60,524 Singapore Chinese adults showed that people who drank two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week were at greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with individuals who did not, the study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention says.

No link was found between drinking juice and pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most rapidly fatal cancers in adults, with less than five percent of patients surviving five years or more after being diagnosed with the illness.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100209/hl_afp/healthdrinkcancer

And this one made me clutch my gut.

Good thing I'm changing the diet anyway and can add coke to the "No" list and keep the beer. $\:D/$

Finleythewombat · **Posted:** Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:29 pm

mmm, beeer.

Can't understand why people drink pop (especially coke ... bleeeah). All you get for your NT$25 is a bottle of fluorescent chemicals that cost the manufacturer about NT$0.002, and it doesn't even taste nice. Giving it to your kids should be illegal - I've seen a 5-year-old behave like he's just dropped an E after drinking a bottle of no-brand green pop.

Not long ago in England, beer (the dark, treacly sort) was actually considered a genuine food, and no self-respecting household would lack a homebrew setup. A meal might consist of a hunk of bread and a pint. A good beer is, at least, more-or-less natural and contains some (limited) nutrition. Anyway, why do we have to justify beer-drinking with research about bone strength? Ooo, no, none of that lager for me, not enough bioavailable silicon in it. Although I suppose one does need stronger bones to lug around the beer gut...

Speaking of which, you're far more likely to get fat from sugary drinks than from beer (apparently, the correlation between beer-drinking and a fat belly is just an urban myth). I can personally attest - having just done a drastic sugar-pruning exercise on the way I eat - that sweet stuff is the one thing that's guaranteed to leave you looking like Mr Sta-Puft...

Finleythewombat · **Posted:** Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:30 pm

btw, for the newbies in Taiwan, Carrefour usually has an interesting selection of European beers, including some very good Belgian ones. They sample different brands from time to time.

dogface · **Posted:** Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:10 pm

Finleythewombat wrote:

btw, for the newbies in Taiwan, Carrefour usually has an interesting selection of European beers, including some very good Belgian ones. They sample different brands from time to time.

That is very true. The Chimay reds and blues are very nice.

I wish they would supply Piraat though.

I live in San Xia and afaik, they have not had a sampling day for beer at the new Care4 across the road from my house. Although, I have one several occasions been buzzed by the lady hawking Spanish red wine. She does get kind of confused when after four cups of the 199NT$ special I still opt for the 699NT Spanish bottle...or the Port.

The beer belly, I have heard, comes more from the garbage food ingested whilst drinking rather than from the beer.

Beer and Doritos and TV is an evil cult. :twisted:

1stDrinkOfTheDay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:01 pm

Beer is the best fizzy drink of all.

Dr. McCoy · **Joined:** Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:25 pm **Posts:** 3686

I don't like fizzy beer. (Like Stella.)

jake · **Posted:** Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:04 am

I wish I had a Stella right now. Doc, are lagers generally fizzy? Or fizzier than other types of beer?

1stDrinkOfTheDay · **Posted:** Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:05 pm

All beers are fizzy, except for stout and porter. It's just a question of degree.

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