Gallup Poll recently found that beer is the preferred drink for 41% of Americans. This has seriously threatened the position of wine as the American drink of choice, as was found in a similar poll last year. However, is this debate really worth it? Well, take a look at what wine and beer entail and decide for yourself.

1) Why Alcohol?

There may be some who ask why should we at all debate about alcohol, which is often misunderstood to be all bad. Excess of alcohol, no doubt, is bad for health but that is not all. Drinking alcohol in moderation is actually healthy for your heart because it is believed to raise good cholesterol (HDL) and helps decrease the instance of blood clots. Blood clots are the main cause behind heart strokes. AHA recommends, “One drink means 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof hard liquor, or 1 ounce of 100-proof liquor.” However, AHA’s measurements come with a rider. Don’t get your hopes high on alcohol if you are already suffering from gastritis, high Blood Pressure, and liver disease.

2) Goodness of Wine

In the ancient times, wine was considered as the nectar of the gods. In the modern times, especially over the last one decade, the wine has been enjoying a steady rise in its popularity. In case you are a wine lover too, here is why you should drink wine regularly, but in moderation:-

1. Drinking wine will increase your years in life, so says a Danish study. According to this study, “Wine drinkers had significantly lower mortality from both coronary heart disease and cancer than did non-wine drinkers.”
2. Resveratrol, which comes into wine from the grape skins, lower the risk of cancer, although researchers claim that more research is needed to establish this fact beyond doubt.
3. Drinking wine increases your appetite and inspires you to choose healthier options on the table. A study conducted in Denmark found that people who drank wine made better choices when it comes to food. Instead of chips, cold cuts, soda drinks, and sausages, wine drinkers sided with healthier food items like olives, low-fat cheeses, vegetables, and fruits.

3) Why Beer, Not Wine?

Now that you know quite a few things about drinking wine, you must be wondering why do more and more Americans opt for beer? Well, it is not without reason, you see:

1. Beer comes cheap and that is the first point in favor of beer. More people can afford beer than wine, as per the market figures. And it doesn’t take much to enjoy a bottle of beer. You can just tune into some sports on television, get together your closest friends, and just enjoy.
2. Believe it or not, beer is a healthier option than wine, especially unfiltered beer, which is a storehouse of nearly all the B vitamins, along with minerals. Even the antioxidant count of beer is as good as wine, what with the grains that go into making it.
3. Beer also reduces your risk of heart diseases, just like wine. A study conducted in Czech Republic concludes that the Vitamin B6 in beer is instrumental in reducing the accumulation of amino acid homocysteine in blood stream. This amino acid has been associated with occurrence of heart disease.

If you compare the benefits of beer with wine, the scales are tilted slightly in favor of wine. However, before the verdict is out, ensure that you are qualified (health-wise) to drink either of them. You can also take help by going through some of the trends for wine & beer.

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