Beer, Wine, Soda or Water… your choice

Naturally, in taking our meal we always have an accompanying drink to go with our food, it could be plain water, soda for those with sweet tooth, wine or beer for those who had a taste for alcohol.

But does any of you have considered the health benefits of what you are drinking if it has any. The common choice for most people would be plain water or tap water, its cheap and you can get it almost anywhere. But don’t take water for granted, water as some studies point out may be the one of the best choice for weight loss.

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.

Here’s why: The kidneys can’t function properly without enough water. When they don’t work to capacity, some of their load is dumped onto the liver. One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body. But if the liver has to do some of the kidney’s work it can’t operate at full throttle. As a result, it metabolizes less fat more fat remains stored in the body and weight loss stops.

The overweight person needs more water than a thin one. Larger people have larger metabolic loads. Since we know that water is the key to fat metabolism, it follows that the over weight person needs more water.

Water helps to maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles their natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration. It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually follows weigh loss — shrinking cells are buoyed by water which plumps the skin and leaves it clear, healthy and resilient.

Water helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lot more waste to get rid of — all that metabolized fat must be shed. Again, adequate water helps flush out the waste.
(source: http://www.highvibrations.org/archive3/water.htm )

The second choice would be soda or soft drinks. Unfortunately these drinks doesn’t do you any good except perhaps satisfy your craving for something sweet (I should know I am unfortunately quite hook to it and still trying to get rid of it) or satisfy your thirst. Most study linked soda drinks to obesity and diabetes. On the upside, soda are good as a temporary relief for sugar deficiency or Hypoglycemia … please note TEMPORARY relief and not as treatment

Fruit Juice would be one of the best choice for beverages, juice from fresh fruit that is, as it contains all the natural nutrients of the fruit and contains no artificial flavoring or processed sugar but can be a bit more expensive than soda drinks and powdered juice. Powder juice may offer you some vitamins and nutrients depending on what the manufacturer puts in, but it still contains high volume of processed sugar which can be bad for you.

Beer is a beverage which people usually prefer to take along with meals in North America and Europe. Beer has greater protein and vitamin B content than wine. Its antioxidant content is equivalent to that of wine. Hops, major component for brewing beer, are rich source of flavonoids, which are potent antioxidants. It is a very good source of some minerals which play roles in various metabolic processes. If taken in moderate quantities, beer will surely benefit one’s health.

Health benefits of beer include anticancer property, reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, increased bone density, prevention of dementia and coronary disease, aiding digestive system, anti-aging properties, countering diabetes, gallstones, kidney stones and osteoporosis, hypertension, apart from acting as a stress buster and diuretic.

But remember people, you can enjoy the health benefits of beer if you would drink it in moderation, drinking beer excessively can be dangerous to your health

Wine and health is an issue of considerable discussion and research. Wine has a long history of use as an early form of medication, being recommended variously as a safe alternative to drinking water, an antiseptic for treating wounds and a digestive aid, as well as a cure for a wide range of ailments from lethargy and diarrhea to easing the pain of child birth.

There are two types of wine, red and white wine, I would not delve on how those two differ in how they were created but I would go in detail on how those two are different in terms of health benefits. Red wine are basically rich in Catechins and Resveratrol, while white wines are rich in tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol which are also found in olive oil.

Resveratrol is a member of a group of plant compounds called polyphenols. These compounds are thought to have antioxidant properties, protecting the body against the kind of damage linked to increased risk for conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer and diabetes (source: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/resveratrol-supplements )

Catechins is phytochemicals of Flavan-3-ols, in the group of Flavonoids (polyphenols), found abundantly in white tea, green tea, black tea, grapes, wine, apple juice, cocoa, lentils, etc.

its benefits includes body weight regulation, reduction of cholesterol level, anti-liver cancer, anti-oxidant,anti-inflammatory effect, Age-related Neurodegeneration, to name a few (source: http://kylenorton.healthblogs.org/2012/01/29/phytochemicals-in-foods-15-health-benefits-of-catechins/ )

Tyrosol is a phenylethanoid, a derivative of phenethyl alcohol. It is a natural phenolic antioxidant present in a variety of natural sources. The principal source in the human diet is olive oil. It is also one of the main natural phenols in argan oil. Tyrosol present in white wine is also shown to be cardioprotective. Samson et al. has shown that tyrosol-treated animals showed significant increase in the phosphorylation of Akt, eNOS and FOXO3a. In addition, tyrosol also induced the expression of longevity protein SIRT1 in the heart after myocardial infarction in a rat MI model. Hence tyrosol’s SIRT1, Akt and eNOS activating power adds another dimension to the white wine research, because it adds a great link to the French paradox. In conclusion these findings suggest that tyrosol induces myocardial protection against ischemia related stress by inducing survival and longevity proteins that may be considered as anti-aging therapy for the heart (source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrosol )

Hydroxytyrosol is a phenylethanoid, a type of phenolic phytochemical with antioxidant properties. After gallic acid, hydroxytyrosol is believed to be one of the most powerful antioxidants. Its oxygen radical absorbance capacity is 40,000 umolTE/g, which is ten times higher than that of green tea, and two times higher than that of CoQ10.

In nature, hydroxytyrosol is found in olive leaf which is used for medical purposes, with immunostimulant and antibiotic properties.[2] It also exists in olive oil, in the form of its elenolic acid ester oleuropein and, especially after degradation, in its plain form. Oleuropein, along with oleocanthal, are responsible for the bitter taste of extra virgin olive oil. Hydroxytyrosol itself in pure form is a colorless, odourless liquid. The olives, leaves and olive pulp contain large amounts of hydroxytyrosol (compared to olive oil), most of which can be recovered to produce hydroxytyrosol extracts (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxytyrosol )

So the next time you want to drink something that goes with your meal, think of their health benefits first before choosing … have a nice meal =)