Sacrificing vices to improve health is no walk in the park, but luckily, the food and beverage worlds have blessed us with many products that make such transitions smoother. For vegans and vegetarians, there are countless faux chicken nugget options to munch on. For anyone looking to cut down on their alcohol consumption, there’s plenty of stellar non-alcoholic beers on the market to sip on.
As it turns out, NA beer isn’t just handy when it comes to avoiding booze. Although the standard beverage regimen for lowering cholesterol usually calls for berry smoothies, green tea, and soy milk, research suggests that drinking non-alcoholic beer can help with the process, too. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.
What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a lipid, or insoluble fat-like compound, found in lipoproteins that travel through the blood and cells of the human body and play a crucial role in myriad bodily functions. Our livers produce it naturally, but our cholesterol levels are compounded by dietary cholesterol when we eat food, particularly animal products like eggs, meat, and dairy. We need cholesterol to survive, but too much of it can lead to health issues.
There are two categories of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The former is the good kind, and high levels of it can reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. LDL has the reverse effect, so the lower the better. Essentially, high levels of LDL cholesterol can form plaque and build-up in arteries, increasing the risk of stroke and heart disease.
Why Non-Alcoholic Beer Lowers Cholesterol
Non-alcoholic beer may be mostly water, but it also contains plenty of nutrients like amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds like polyphenols. Medical research has proven that polyphenols — which are found in hops — carry antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and can improve overall cardiovascular health.
In an article published in the nutrition journal Nutrients by MDPI, scientists compared various studies on both conventional and non-alcoholic beers’ effects on drinkers’ cholesterol levels.
Arguably the most significant findings came from a 2009 study in which 29 nuns were given two non-alcoholic lagers daily for 45 days. Although no change was detected in subjects with healthy cholesterol levels, those with high levels saw a significant decrease.
In a follow-up study with the same participants, each nun ingested 400 milligrams of hops daily over a 30-day period. In the end, all subjects saw lower cholesterol levels. Therefore, it’s believed that polyphenols play an integral role in non-alcoholic beer’s cholesterol-lowering effects.
According to another study outlined in the article, drinking non-alcoholic beers can also reduce oxidative stress, which is an imbalance of antioxidants in the body that can lead to cholesterol accumulation. On top of that, one study proved that non-alcoholic beer inhibited thrombin generation. Thrombin is an enzyme that contributes to essential blood clotting, but it can trigger cardiovascular disease in abnormally high quantities. Therefore, the researchers concluded that non-alcoholic beer can be used to regulate blood coagulation.
So if fear of high cholesterol has you down, keep a 6-pack of NA IPAs in your fridge and raise a can to good health — and polyphenols, of course. Plus, no matter how you feel about NA beer, it certainly tastes better than chewing on raw hops.
*Image retrieved from producer via stock.adobe.com
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