Chilled beer with cold dishes and grilled skewers has become a pleasure for most people. Yu Shuqing, director of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Beijing You'an Hospital, Capital Medical University, and a chief nutritionist, reminds us that while beer is refreshing and whets the appetite, drinking it unscientifically can harm health.
Beer with seafood and barbecue can easily cause gout
Director Yu Shuqing said that you should not drink beer when eating barbecue and seafood, as this is the root cause of gout. Most barbecue foods are seafood, animal offal, and meat, which, like beer, are high-purine foods.
In addition, the barbecue process not only produces carcinogens such as "benzopyrene," but the nucleic acids in meat decompose upon heating, leading to gene mutations and the production of carcinogens. Alcohol consumption dilates blood vessels in the digestive tract and dissolves the mucoprotein on the surface of the digestive tract's mucosa, making it easy for these carcinogens to be absorbed by the body. Therefore, you should try to avoid eating barbecue when drinking beer. If you really want to eat it, you can also eat some fresh vegetables and fruits, sea lettuce, kelp, and laver at the same time to reduce side effects.
Ice-cold beer can trigger various diseases
Director Yu Shuqing said that beer should not be too cold. Even beer from the refrigerator should be controlled at 5-10°C because the various components of beer are in a coordinated balance at this temperature, forming the best taste. A temperature that is too low not only makes it taste bad but also causes the protein in the beer to decompose and become free, destroying its nutritional value. More importantly, a beer temperature that is too low will cause a sharp drop in the temperature of the drinker's gastrointestinal tract, affecting digestive function. In severe cases, it can cause spasmodic abdominal pain, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal diseases, and can also increase intraduodenal pressure, inducing acute pancreatitis.
Excessive consumption increases the burden on organs
Many people have a misconception that because beer has a low alcohol content, they can drink it heartily. In fact, after drinking a large amount of beer, water is quickly excreted, but the alcohol is absorbed, increasing the burden on the liver, kidneys, and heart. At the same time, because malt extract used in brewing beer contains oxalic acid and uridine, their interaction can increase the amount of uric acid in the human body and promote the formation of stones. Furthermore, because beer is rich in nutrients and has a high caloric value, and its nutrients are easily absorbed by the body, excessive consumption can lead to fat accumulation in the body. It is recommended that the daily consumption does not exceed 1000 ml.
People abroad have long studied the effects of beer on the human body. Fasting and drinking two bottles of medium-strength beer has a similar effect to drinking 100 ml of strong liquor. The subjects' heart rate surged, their pulse frequency increased by 88%, their coordination ability decreased by 14%, and their thinking ability decreased by 5%.