Whether on the beach, in the city park or on the lake, a cool beer in the evening is simply part of it. However, more and more beer lovers are taking to the non -alcoholic option, which now has double -digit growth in paragraph.
The acohol -free variants of wheat, pils and so -called beer mixed drinks are particularly popular.
Alcohl -free beer: healthy and “good” tested!
The magazineStiftung WarentestHas in your June 2024 edition 20 non -alcoholic beers tested – nine estate cut, ten satisfactory and one thing. The five best in the test were Warsteiner non -alcoholic Pilsener, Paulaner Non -alcoholic Munich Hell, Beck’s Blue Non -alcoholic, Krombacher non -alcoholic Pilsener, Lidl Perlenbacher non -alcoholic extra bit. Warsteiner in particular turned out to be the best thirst quencher.
That is why non-alcoholic beer is the healthy beer alternative
For a long time, it is no longer just known to athletes that non -alcoholic beer is healthy. Even more and more health -conscious people treat themselves to a beer without alcohol. The difference is not too large in terms of taste, because the ingredients are the same in both variants: water, hops, malt and yeast. As for the content, however, there are some differences:
- We save up to 20 kcal per 100 ml – that’s just under 40 percent less than with normal beer.
- Alcohol -free beer is isoton – so it has the same ratio of nutrients as our blood
- It has less sugar than soft drinks, juice or juice spritzer
So alcohol -free beer is a great alternative to soft drinks, juice and juice spritzer – of course not during the training, but above all afterwards. But why exactly athletes actually benefit from non -alcoholic beer?
Plant power in non -alcoholic beer
Non -alcoholic beer like wheat beer promotes the health of athletes. This is the result of the world’s largest marathon study “Beer, Beer, Marathon, Genetics, Inflammation and the Cardiovascular System) of 277 marathon runners. Beer strengthens the immune system and can inhibit inflammation.
The miracle elixir in beer is called polyphenol
Polyphenols occur in plants as dyes, flavors or tannins. They work together in different combinations and have a health -promoting and cancer -preventing effect. The sports doctors of the Technical University of Munich around Dr. John Scherr evidence by examining the 277 marathon runners of the Munich Marathon in 2009 three weeks before and two weeks after the event. They divided the testers into two groups: a group drank up to 1.5 liters of non -alcoholic beer a day. The other group received the same dosage of a placebo drink without polyphenols.
Less infections from non -alcoholic beer
Polyphenol -containing non -alcoholic beverages reduce the inflammatory parameters in the blood and make infections less often or with lower symptoms. The values of the white blood cells, which are an important parameter for inflammation, were 20 percent lower for the test group than the placebo group. After the marathon, the beer drinkers were also less liked:
“If you drink the non -alcoholic test drink, your risk is reduced to a third to get a cold”,
So Scherr. If the viruses assume, the cold is at least milder. Even Scherr and his colleagues are surprised that the positive effects of the polyphenols on health failed.
How do you take beer alcohol?
In order to be declared as alcohol -free, the brew may contain a maximum of 0.5 % alcohol. To achieve this, there are two methods: breaking off the brewing process or removing ethanol subsequently. In the first method, the beer is briefly heated to kill the yeast. If you remove alcohol at the end, filtration techniques with fine -pored membranes are used.
And not non -alcoholic beer?
Good news for beer drinkers – more polyphenols are contained in alcohol -containing wheat beer than in non -alcoholic wheat beer! The positive effect that the researchers attribute to the polyphenols would be even greater than with non -alcoholic wheat beer. The catch on the matter: “At 1.5 liters per day, the ‘side effects’ of the alcoholic wheat beer (liver cirrhosis etc.) outweigh the positive effects,” explains Dr. Scherr. Then just drink a small glass with alcohol or simply non -alcoholic beer, because the unwanted side effects are completely out of the question. Well because cheers!
Source: IDW-online, German brewer Confederation
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Is a non -alcoholic wheat beer suitable as an isotonic sports drink?
After sports, the liquid memory must be filled – you can also use the beer glass
You come back exhausted and wet sweated back by a strenuous run. Your throat is longing for a refreshment – how nice would an ice -cold beer be! No? Sports and alcohol are not really compatible, it looks different with non -alcoholic beer. Erdinger, Bitburger, Veltins and Co. promote their alternatives as “calorie -reduced and isotonic” or “sporty thirst quencher”. But is the popular drink in non -alcoholic version really suitable for athletes?
Yes. Because the ingredients contained in beer are brimming with nutrients: yeast provides digestive enzymes, amino acids and vitamins of the B group such as folic acid. Hops delivers secondary plant substances with polyphenols. “These have a health -promoting and anti -inflammatory effect by positively influencing the immune system and also catch free radicals,” explains Dr. Johannes Scherr, sports and nutritionist at the Technical University of Munich.
The “Beer, Marathon, Genetics, Inflammation and the Cardiovascular System) of the Technical University of Munich has proven that these effects can actually start from non-alcoholic wheat. The researchers divided 277 runners into two groups and examined them three weeks before and two weeks after a marathon. A group received a liter of non-alcoholic wheat beer every day, the other a placebo drink. The results were clear: the beer drinkers showed a significantly reduced risk of inflammation and infections of the upper respiratory tract and a stronger immune system.
Another plus point: non -alcoholic beer is isotonic. Scherr explains: “That means the ratio of water and salt in beer corresponds to the composition of the human blood.” That is why the valuable ingredients pass directly into the bloodstream and can be absorbed quickly. This counteracts sporting exhaustion particularly effectively.
And despite the refreshing enjoyment, the calorie account remains relatively unencumbered. “Non -alcoholic beer contains 40 percent fewer calories than the alcoholic variant,” says Scherr. Half a liter comes to around 125 calories. For comparison: the same amount of cola contains 190 calories, with orange juice there are 250. In addition: in contrast to many finished athlete drinks, beer is a natural product. “Since brewing in Germany after the purity requirement, no chemistry must be added,” emphasizes the expert.
All of this makes both non-alcoholic wheat beer and classic non-alcoholic beer types of beer. Incidentally, alcoholic beer also brings theoretically the same health advantages – but they are covered by alcohol and higher calorie content.
