That's The Power Of Love (of Beer)!

When Huey Lewis sang about the power of love, he obviously forgot a couple of words at the end of the song, namely, "of" and "beer."

Beer has been around for centuries, heck, multiple millennia at this point and continues to be improved upon. In addition to improvements made in the creation, processing and distribution of the 'Nectar of the Gods,' our understanding of the substance has improved as well.

For years, we, as the public have been told about the benefits of regular, moderate wine consumption as a means to improve blood pressure, relax the sympathetic nervous system and play a role in various processes by which anti-oxidants are utilized by the body. What's been lost in all the hoopla is that beer can have many of the same positive physiological processes as well.

So let's dig into it a little bit....

1. Beer, and really all alcohol, when moderately consumed (1-12 oz. beer for women, 1 or 2-12 oz. beers for men) has been shown to boost the good cholesterol (HDL), lower the bad cholesterol (LDL), thin the blood (reduce clotting incidence) and reduce the risk of stroke and/or heart attacks

2. Beer also lowers blood pressure by acting upon the smooth muscle within the vascular walls. When this smooth muscle is relaxed the blood f
lows more simply through the arteries.

3. So obviously there are heart and vascular health aspects to moderate beer intake, but what about other organs? For women, beer has been linked to a reduction in the rate of bone mineral density loss, so it may assist in slowing age-related osteoporosis while in men, it has been postulated that beer consumption can reduce the incidence of kidney stone formation.

4. Lastly, beer tends to have more vitamins, minerals and fiber than wine.

If you're looking for the beer that packs the most nutritional punch, then look for the darker beers, specifically stouts or porters as they contain higher levels of specific anti-oxidants (cancer-fighting molecules).