A nice beer on the terrace, with this sunny weather, the golden-yellow rascals are in great demand. Even though we know it’s not very healthy. Or is that okay now?

There seems to be at least one advantage to beer, both with and without alcohol: it leads to a better intestinal flora. Scientists conclude this in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. They found that men who drank one beer (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) daily developed an increasing and more diverse collection of gut bacteria. A more varied gut flora is linked to a lower risk of getting various diseases.

Trillions of microorganisms live in the human gastrointestinal tract and directly affect the well-being of their host. Studies have shown that people are less likely to develop chronic diseases such as heart problems and diabetes when there are more types of bacteria present in the gut. And let a beer contain all kinds of good substances that improve the amount and diversity of the intestinal flora.

Antioxidants

Lager contains all kinds of antioxidants, such as polyphenols. There are also good micro-organisms swirling through the golden blond juice, which can influence the variety of microbes in the human gut. A previously published study showed that both men and women had an improved intestinal flora after 30 days after drinking an alcohol-free beer every day. Later, many of these people took part in a second study, in which they drank the alcoholic version of the same beer. This gave a less strong effect.

What is good for the intestinal flora?

Your microbiome, or gut flora, likes unprocessed, fiber-rich foods, writes the Stomach Liver Gut Foundation. There is a distinction between products with fermentable fibres, such as beans, leeks, oats, barley and bananas, and foods with non-fermentable fibres, such as whole grain products and fruit with skins. Fermented foods, which contain live bacteria, are especially recommended.

Few other clinical studies have tested or replicated this design. Reason enough for researcher Ana Faria and her colleagues to see if they could find similar results. In a double-blind study with two separate groups of participants, nineteen healthy men were randomly divided into two groups. Each person was given 0.33 liters of pilsner beer with dinner for four weeks. One group drank alcoholic beer, the other group was given a 0.0-beer every day.

Beans and lentils in particular contain a lot of fermentable fiber. Photo: Marekuliasz

The researchers found that the participants’ weight, BMI and a number of blood markers indicative of good heart health and metabolism did not change during the study. However, at the end of the four-week period, a greater bacterial diversity in the gut was measured in both test groups. An increase in the amount of alkaline phosphatase in the stool was also found, indicating an improvement in gut health.

Hops and Yeast Extracts

“It is very interesting to see that beer can positively influence the intestinal flora. The fermented drink has a positive impact on the diversity and amount of bacteria, because of the hop and yeast extracts in the beer. We see that moderate consumption of beer, with or without alcohol, can be a good way to improve the microbiotic gut environment as part of a balanced diet,” explains researcher Ana Faria. Scientias.nl†

“It was very surprising to find that the effect on the gut bacteria was not dependent on the alcohol in the beer. This suggests that components in the beer itself can influence the diversity of microorganisms in the gut and improve gut values.”

Faria: “The beer was carefully filtered beforehand, so that no viable micro-organisms were present in the liquid. The changes in diversity and size of the group of gut microbes can therefore only be attributed to the fermentation of grains and to the hop extracts.”

Based on this pilot study, the researchers say that consuming a bottle of beer a day, regardless of alcohol content, can have a positive effect on gut health and the diversity and amount of microorganisms that live in the gut. The research team would like to add that in principle any amount of alcohol is bad for health, so the alcohol-free version is ultimately the better choice. Cheers!