DRINKING BEER EVERY DAY GOOD FOR HEALTH
Doctors have suggested that drinking up to a pint of beer a day is good for the health and can reduce the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.
They claimed that moderate consumption could even help people lose weight if combined with a healthy diet. Doctors Ramon Estruch and Rosa Lamuela tested 1,249 men and women over 57 years old. Those who accompanied a Mediterranean diet with up to a pint of beer 'not only did not put on weight, but in some cases even lost weight'.
The doctors found beer provides the same health benefits attributed to moderate consumption of wine. "In this study we banish myths. We know that beer is not to blame for obesity," the Daily Mail quoted Dr Lamuela as saying. Beer contains folic acid, vitamins, iron and calcium, which the study claims provide a 'protective' effect on the cardiovascular system.
The subjects who regularly drank moderate amounts of beer were less likely to suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, and had a lower body fat content. The researchers from Barcelona and Madrid suggested women should drink two small glasses of beer a day while men should drink three, combined with a healthy diet and exercise.
A CUP OF TEA IMPROVES BRAIN POWER
A new study has suggested that drinking tea not only improves brain power, but also reduces tiredness and increases alertness, thereby improving the performance.
For the study, Dutch researchers looked at the effect of key chemicals found in tea on the mental performance of 44 young volunteers, reports the Daily Mail. The effects of these ingredients, an amino acid called L-theanine – which is also found in green tea – and caffeine at levels typically found in a cup of tea, were compared with a dummy treatment.
The active ingredients significantly improved accuracy across a number of switching tasks for those who drank the tea after 20 and 70 minutes, compared with the placebo. The tea drinkers' alertness was also heightened, the study found. Tea was also found to reduce tiredness among the volunteers, who were aged under 40, according to the researchers. The study has been reported in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience.
