Day 17- Happy St. Patrick's Day

Since I am now officially married under the Irish family name, "Ryan," I figured that an Irish blog was in order for St. Patrick's day. When people think of St. Patrick's day, the pictures that will come to their head, will most likely be of a pint of Guinness, a shot of Jameson, and a bowl of corned beef and cabbage. So as your resident nutritional blogger, I though that I would talk about the health benefits of the dark Irish beer, Guinness.
Back in the 20's the slogan for Guinness was, "Guinness, is good for you." Although, this slogan was not implying that it was actually nutritious for you; it developed based on a marketing research campaign, where they were told by people that they felt good after a pint of Guinness.

As I researched more about this slogan, I found that there actually might be some sort of validly to this slogan.
In a study done at the University of Wisconsin, experts tested the health benefits of Guinness by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease. Their tests showed that the dogs that were fed Guinness had reduced clotting activity in the blood. They also tested dogs using just a lager beer, and saw no improvement, as they had with Guinness. The benefits found in this study could be due to the antioxidant levels found in this beverage. The conclusions to these studies show that Guinness may work as well as a low dose Aspirin in preventing clots.

According to the BBC news:

• In England, post-operative patients used to be given Guinness, as were blood donors, based on the belief that it was high in iron.
• Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness- the present advice is against this.

Another plus for this beer is the calorie content; in a 12oz glass there is only 125 calories, which compared to Bud light's 110 calories, Coors light's 104 calories, and Michelob Ultra's 95 calories isn't bad for the iconic beer of Ireland.

Guinness does not make medical claims for their beer, but I thought in the name of St. Patrick, why not give us a reason to celebrate without all the guilt. Or if you are like my Hawaiirish husband; you might just be sticking to the Primos.

Pura Vida!
Alica Ryan, NTP