13 ms·

> The modest levels of alcohol in beer improve blood circulation, reducing the risk of heart disease for light drinkers compared with that for heavy drinkers an

> The modest levels of alcohol in beer improve blood circulation, reducing the risk of heart disease for light drinkers compared with that for heavy drinkers and abstainers. I'm not sure this still stands up to scrutiny in the current year; iirc when controlling for external factors, any alcohol intake is worse than no alcohol intake. Either way, yeah, this resonates with me. I drink one beer every afternoon while cooking dinner for my family. It doesn't feel unhealthy, i love the taste, and the ritual of it has a definite de-stressing quality. Furthermore I'm not a binge or big drinker at all. More than 2 drinks and I feel bad the next day. I hope the health impact in my case is limited.

eurasiantiger 5y ago
The real danger is to the psyche from monoamine oxidase inhibition. Beer is a mashed beverage, the boiling of the mash generates Harmala alkaloids. Alcohol is just one part of the story.
- lend000 5y ago
  Any sources? No clear conclusions about danger show up in a quick Google for concentrated MAO inhibitors, let alone the incidental quantities you would be exposed to in a daily beer.
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    See my other reply. The quantities are not ”incidental” in daily use, because these alkaloids tend to get stored in brain fatty tissues and have a rather long half-life, measured in weeks.
- isoprophlex 5y ago
  Unless you're drinking tobacco beer, or a peganum harmala infused brew, I don't think there are MAOI's present in beer. A quick google search doesn't really show anything as well, can you cite any sources?
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    Sure. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00141.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337... (See table 22) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1988.tb00264.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277....
    - lend000 5y ago
      Is there an archive link to the second article? The conclusion is not available... I find the premise interesting, but consider how many supplements/drugs intentionally inhibit MAO's at much higher than ng/L quantities and how promising they seem for Parkinson's (there seem to be more positive studies than negative studies, though the measured effect in both types tends to be quite small). It seems unlikely to be the critical factor determining health effects in alcoholic beverages.
      - smichel17 5y ago
        https://www.sci-hub.ru/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1988.tb00264.x https://www.sci-hub.ru/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
        lend000 5y ago
        Thanks. Their conclusion: "The contribution of harman in alcoholic beverages to the overall pharmacological and/or toxicological effects of the amine and its relationship to alcoholism needs to be investigated."
        eurasiantiger 5y ago
        And this would be that investigation, from 1996! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8651457/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8651457/
        ProjectArcturis 5y ago

eurasiantiger 5y ago

The real danger is to the psyche from monoamine oxidase inhibition. Beer is a mashed beverage, the boiling of the mash generates Harmala alkaloids. Alcohol is just one part of the story.

lend000 5y ago
Any sources? No clear conclusions about danger show up in a quick Google for concentrated MAO inhibitors, let alone the incidental quantities you would be exposed to in a daily beer.
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  See my other reply. The quantities are not ”incidental” in daily use, because these alkaloids tend to get stored in brain fatty tissues and have a rather long half-life, measured in weeks.
isoprophlex 5y ago
Unless you're drinking tobacco beer, or a peganum harmala infused brew, I don't think there are MAOI's present in beer. A quick google search doesn't really show anything as well, can you cite any sources?
- eurasiantiger 5y ago
  Sure. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00141.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1541-4337... (See table 22) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1988.tb00264.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277....
  - lend000 5y ago
    Is there an archive link to the second article? The conclusion is not available... I find the premise interesting, but consider how many supplements/drugs intentionally inhibit MAO's at much higher than ng/L quantities and how promising they seem for Parkinson's (there seem to be more positive studies than negative studies, though the measured effect in both types tends to be quite small). It seems unlikely to be the critical factor determining health effects in alcoholic beverages.
    - smichel17 5y ago
      https://www.sci-hub.ru/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1530-0277.1988.tb00264.x https://www.sci-hub.ru/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
      - lend000 5y ago
        Thanks. Their conclusion: "The contribution of harman in alcoholic beverages to the overall pharmacological and/or toxicological effects of the amine and its relationship to alcoholism needs to be investigated."
        eurasiantiger 5y ago
        And this would be that investigation, from 1996! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8651457/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8651457/
        ProjectArcturis 5y ago