Hello and welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast. I'm your host, Monica Reinegel. And this

week, I got an email from Donald who wrote,

«Alcohol appears to provide some health benefits if consumed in moderation, in particular

red wine or beer. What about non-alcoholic beer and wine? Can you gain the same benefits

from these beverages without the hazards? Are there other important considerations?»

Well, Donald's email made me realize that it is time to revisit the subject of alcohol

and your health, both to clear up some common misperceptions as well as to update you on

some new research. So first, those common misperceptions. Despite its reputation, red wine

is really not any healthier than other alcoholic beverages. Now, I know that much has been made

of the resveratrol in red wine. That's a polyphenolic antioxidant that's been shown

to have some health benefits. But red wine is not the only way to get resveratrol. Unfermented

grapes and grape juice, blueberries, billberries, pistachios, peanuts and peanut butter are

also good sources. But more to the point, the amount of resveratrol that's been shown

in studies to produce those health benefits is far beyond what you could likely get from

your diet, much less, just from drinking red wine. And, by the way, beer also contains

polyphenols, along with a variety of other nutrients. According to researcher and beer

enthusiast Charles Bamforth, a half liter of beer can provide up to 25% of the daily

requirement for niacin and vitamin C, up to 50% of your B6, and an entire day's worth

of folate in B12, along with various other vitamins and minerals.

Margot Denke, another researcher, points out that the hops and the barley used to make

beer also contribute a significant amount of antioxidants. And studies have found that

you absorb about the same amount of polyphenols from wine or beer. So, in answer to Donald's

...