by Zenia Brink - Staff Writer

The French. They smoke more, they eat more, and they drink more and they exercise less than Americans. So why are they still healthier than Americans? Why is it that the heart disease rate in France is one-third of that in American? It's come to be know as the French Paradox. Many health professionals and doctors attributed the French's health to their consumption of red wine. It became widely know that a glass or two of red wine each day could keep your heart healthy. But less known, yet not new knowledge is that beer has just as many, if not more health benefits than wine. I'll toast to that!

The main health benefit in wine, is actually found in the grapes that make up the wine. These grapes contain high concentrations of flavonoids. These flavonoids have been proven to reduce artery-narrowing blood platelet activity as well as introduce powerful free radical-fighting anti-oxidant protection into the blood stream. But beer also contains flavonoids. More specifically in the hops used to create beer. Also the darker the beer the more concentration of flavonoids. The New England Journal of Medicine conducted a 12 year study on 38,077 male health professionals. They concluded that those who drank alcohol moderately, three to four times a week, had a 20 percent lower risk of heart attack, than those who did not drink. Researches have also found that the risk of heart attack among healthy, middle aged men who did not drink was 420 in 100,000, where has moderate drinkers was 145 in 100,000. Do notice that a key word in all this research is moderate, meaning three to four times a week and no more that two drinks a day.

Hey ladies! Don't despair. Drinking has benefits for us as well. Research has shown that the anti-oxidant properties of xanthohumol, which is a major hop flavonoid, has potent estrogenic properties. This could result in a natural hormone replacement therapy drug for post-menopausal women, without the harsh side effects of current HRT drugs. So beer's only good for me if I'm post-menopausal? Of course not! Women can gain the same heart health benefits as men, and more so. Women absorb alcohol, faster and easier then men, due to a higher fat content in their bodies, where as men have a higher water content, thus women can more easily absorb the healthy benefits.

Now before you start drinking as an excuse to stay healthy, keep a few things in mind. First: moderation, alcohol has very negative effects if consumed in excess. Secondly, alcohol, especially beer, can pack on the pounds, so make sure you're aware that although fat free, beer still has calories and carbs. Thirdly, although beer also has the benefit of vitamins such as B-6, it can also prohibit the absorption and decrease the levels of other vitamins. And lastly, talk to your doctor. They can let you know for sure if drinking will benefit you. Now let's pour a beer, raise our mugs and toast to our health.