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Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

bbc.com

41–48 of 48 posts

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#41
post #9
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To get the unit content of a drink you multiply the serving size in litres by the ABV value. 125 ml of wine at 8% is one British unit. So when people say "one glass of wine is one unit" they're often under-estimating how much they're drinking. Most wine will be sold in 175 ml servings (called a small glass) and at much stronger than 8% ABV. 12% is normal. 175 ml of 12% is just over 2 units. A more normal 250 ml servi…

From the creators of the British Thermal Unit comes the streamlined British Unit? For a country with such a long and gloried history of interesting and curious names, these two really stand out :) Anyway, here in the antipodes, we refer to 'standard drinks', which is both better and worse than 'units'. Better, because it's more accessible to the layperson, and worse, because most normal volumes that one drinks is mor…

It's not called a 'British Unit'. You've mischievously added a capital letter there as if the whole thing is a proper name when the article didn't do that. It's just called 'a unit of alcohol' which isn't as silly as you're pretending. 'British' in the original article was just an adjective, not part of the noun, and the context of unit being alcohol was implicit so it was left off.

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#42
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any proof that it does affect your health in any way? I thought the consensus was that in people who do not suffer from Colic disease, there is absolutely no impact of gluten on anything, none whatsoever. Am I wrong?

Sensitivity to gluten-containing foods has been documented in lots of people without celiac. However... * People with IBS may find their symptoms improved by going on a low-FODMAP diet. That does take out bread, but it also might involve taking out onions because of their sugar content. Doesn't have anything to do with gluten per se. * People with digestive problems may find that alcohol is an irritant. But then tequ…

We don't need to bring hakarl into this. Or into anything else, really. And this is from someone who has enjoyed homemade kefir (until killing the culture).

Starting your own fermentation culture is dead simple. The problem is that your local strains of dust-borne microbes are not likely to be very tasty, or as useful as a more domesticated culture. So just like there are companies who make money on open-source software, there will be companies that make money on particular freely-available fermentation cultures. There already are such companies.[0] There are also informal networks of people who trade cultures through the mail. That's how I got my kefir culture.

[0] http://www.sourdo.com/our-sourdough-cultures-2/

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#43
post #5

The article refers to a "British unit", which is 1mL of pure alcohol. This is supposed to make it easier for people to know how much they're drinking, most bottles and cans state how many "units" are in a serving / the whole bottle.

Isn't it tied to drunk driving, where you are meant to plan out one 'British unit' of alcohol per hour to stay under the limit?

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have some sympathy with the disdain shown towards bandwagon-jumpers. However gluten has turned out to be a real problem in my own family. There seems to be a range of problems that gluten sensitivity can be linked with, even while traditional coeliac tests return negative. Our own research suggests this can sometimes mean "not yet bad enough to show positive" and that things need to get really bad for that to final…

> Since she cut out gluten this has only ever happened "blind" btw, i.e. waking up with symptoms then figuring "ah that piece of XYZ must have had gluten" after the fact. Or she's allergic to something else.

We've not cut anything else: dairy, nuts, alcohol, eggs, carbs, fats, proteins, sugar. Not sure what else it could be. For example, turns out malted vinegar causes a reaction, the sole "trigger" ingredient in it is barley.

6 months of no-symptoms-barring-accidental-gluten is proving somewhat compelling, after 5 years of mounting health issues.

This is an article we came across that was quite a eureka moment, my wife was a classic Hashimoto's case hence our initial route with endochrinology specialists:

http://chriskresser.com/the-gluten-thyroid-connection/

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#45
post #28

This was actually the topic of the closing address at the Master Brewers Association of America (basically a modern guild meeting + trade show). The main thrust of the talk was that nutritionally, beer and wine should be about equal, but everyone believes that wine is healthy and beer isn't - which is not scientifically accurate. A more nuanced view: ethanol (alcohol) accounts for nearly all of the cardio-vascular be…

In particular, a pint of beer does have a lot of polyphenols which may be good for, say, sports recovery: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21659904 Some people are trying to make a lower-alcohol, salty beer that would be a real sports-recovery drink. Anyone here have experience with old-country low-alcohol everyday beverages like sima, kotikalja, kvass, etc? Europe used to have a grand tradition of these low-alcoho…

The salty beer you're referring to is called Gose. It's a salty sour (lemony tart) ale of low alcohol that was brewed in the summertime, starting in the early 16th century. Along with the electrolytes that plants crave, the brewing process and low ph insured it was a pathogen free source of hydration.

Leipziger is the standard bearer, imo; most American versions don't add enough salt.

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#46
post #43
post #5

The article refers to a "British unit", which is 1mL of pure alcohol. This is supposed to make it easier for people to know how much they're drinking, most bottles and cans state how many "units" are in a serving / the whole bottle.

Isn't it tied to drunk driving, where you are meant to plan out one 'British unit' of alcohol per hour to stay under the limit?

It certainly used to be something like that, but the emphasis is now on health and behaviour. Drink driving is a lot less common.

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/

Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras51-re...

(It's also just a "unit".)

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#47
post #33
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While we're at it, the one I knew growing up was probably the most sensible advice and suggested no mixing: Grape or grain, but never the twain Where grain was probably beer (but could've also been Whisky)

O' the demon of rum is abroad in the land. His victims are falling on every hand, The wise and the sinful, the brave and the fair. No station too high for his vengeance to spare. O woman, the sorrow and pain is with you. And so be the joy and the victory too ; With this for your motto and succor divine : The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine! The lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine! Sing it with…

Oh man I wish I knew this, sadly I just know that single line!

Re: Is beer better (or worse) for you than wine?

#48
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In particular, a pint of beer does have a lot of polyphenols which may be good for, say, sports recovery: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21659904 Some people are trying to make a lower-alcohol, salty beer that would be a real sports-recovery drink. Anyone here have experience with old-country low-alcohol everyday beverages like sima, kotikalja, kvass, etc? Europe used to have a grand tradition of these low-alcoho…

The salty beer you're referring to is called Gose. It's a salty sour (lemony tart) ale of low alcohol that was brewed in the summertime, starting in the early 16th century. Along with the electrolytes that plants crave, the brewing process and low ph insured it was a pathogen free source of hydration. Leipziger is the standard bearer, imo; most American versions don't add enough salt.

I love Gose!
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