Untold Facts About Beer

Contrary to what you might expect, moderate beer consumption is actually good for you. Science has shown that beer can bring many surprising health benefits alongside the better-known perks of bringing out your best dance moves and enjoying a bottle of beer with your friends.

From 27th to 30th April, 2016 Nigerian Breweries Plc hosted Bloggers Beer Academy for some select bloggers across Nigeria (including BrandArena) at its Ibadan Brewery, Ife road, Oyo State. The 4-day academy exposed the bloggers and online publishers to both academic findings and physical processes of how a beer is produced, packaged and distributed.

BrandArena highlights 15 untold facts about beer as discovered at the event.

1. Women created beer. A woman's touch was found on beer throughout the ages. 

2. The oldest written documentation pertaining to beer making can be traced back at least 7000 years, to the ancient civilization of Sumeria (in today’s now Iran). The Ancient Babylonians, the descendants of the Sumerian people, were brewing at least 20 different varieties of beer by 2000 B.C. All citizens were entitled to a daily beer ration, calculated by the person’s social standing.

3. Beer is made from four natural ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast.

4. Hop plant has male and female flowers and the female hop flower is used in making beer.

5. Beer is claimed to help prevent cardiac disease and cognitive decline.

6. Beer to lower your bad cholesterol. The fibre in beer can also help reduce your levels of LDL cholesterol, i.e. the “bad” type of cholesterol.

7. Beer can increase your vitamin B levels Beer contains several B vitamins (B1, B2, B6 and B12). A Dutch study found that beer is rich in B-vitamins and folates (a form of water-soluble B-vitamin found in green leafy vegetables), both of which help keep homocysteine blood levels in check. Homocysteine is a chemical that, in elevated amounts, has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

8. Beer may help increase bone density, thus decreasing risk of fractures because it is one of the best sources of silicon in diet.

9. Beer reduces your risk of a heart attack Beer drinkers have a 40 to 60 percent reduced risk of suffering a heart attack compared with non-beer drinkers.

10. Beer can protect you from Alzhiemer's. Short-term memory loss during consumption aside, a recent study found Xanthohumol, a compound in the hops used to flavour beer, is able to protect the brain from degenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

11. It can prevent type 2 diabetes. Dutch researchers analysed 38,000 male health professionals and found that when men who weren't big drinkers began drinking moderately over 4 years, they were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. However, that doesn’t mean you should order in a ten pint round - researchers found that, increased alcohol consumption over time didn't lower the risk in men who already had a couple drinks a day, so moderation is the key.

12. The oldest known brewery still in operation today is the Benedictine Weihenstephan Breezeway in Bavaria, Germany.  It’s thought that it first opened up shop around 768 and by 1040 is known to have been officially licensed by the City of Freising for making beer.

13. Lagers are normally light in colour and they vary widely in flavour and strength.

14. The Reinheitsgebot instituted in 1516 in Bavaria, was the first beer “purity law” (also the world's first food ingredient regulation) and that remains today in revised form. The original laws permits beer to be made only with barley, hops and water, later acknowledging yeast and permitting wheat.

15.  A bottle of beer contains fewer calories than a glass of milk, wine, or a wrap pounded yam.

Today, there over 40,000 beers worldwide. Several researches have continued to emerge globally on the held benefit of moderate consumption of beer.