Drinking an occasional beer with dinner may help reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a small study by Dutch researchers.
The team from TNO Nutrition and Food Research in the Netherlands tested markers for cardiovascular events in a group of healthy middle-aged subjects who drank three or four glasses of beer with dinner and found significant results after three weeks.
In the study, the researchers tested the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, both markers for systemic inflammation. It is now recognised that this inflammation within arteries contributes considerably to the initiation and progression of coronary heart disease - the leading cause of death in the developed world. Recent studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with decreased CRP concentrations.
Ten healthy middle-aged men and nine post-menopausal women consumed beer or no-alcohol beer with evening dinner during two successive periods of three weeks. During the beer period, alcohol intake was 40g for men (four glasses) and 30g (three glasses) for women. At the end of each of the two experimental periods, fasting blood samples were collected in the morning.
The researchers report in this month's European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that plasma CRP levels declined by 35 per cent after three weeks in the beer-drinking period, with those with the highest levels of CRP showing especially good results. Blood levels of fibrinogen also dropped and levels of HDL cholesterol rose by 11 per cent in the beer drinkers.
These results suggest that an anti-inflammatory action of alcohol may help explain the link between moderate alcohol consumption and lower cardiovascular disease risk, write the scientists.