Beer Has Same Benefits As Red Wine
I have waited for a long time to hear this news. Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have found one drink of beer or wine provides equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity, which helps prevent the oxidization of blood plasma by toxic free radicals that trigger many aging diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cataracts.
The study was conducted by about 10 researchers, including experts in pharmacology and toxicology. It was led by John Trevithick, a biochemistry and kinesiology professor at Western. It involved administering five beverages (stout, lager, red wine, pure alcohol and a placebo-like non- alcoholic drink) to 20 volunteers over a period of two summers, with daily blood tests.
It was all done scientifically.
“It took them an hour or so to get three drinks down,” said Trevithick.
“We didn’t push it. They weren’t chugging.”
The scientists were trying to determine if drinking beer imparts the same benefits as drinking wine, which past studies have shown can help prevent the oxidation of blood plasma by toxic-free radicals that trigger many aging diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cataracts.
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The conclusion?
Trevithick said the study shows that drinking one bottle of beer a day reduces your chances of contracting cataracts or atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries caused by the buildup of plaque) by 50 per cent.
You and I might think that if drinking one beer a day can help you live longer, then drinking five will help you live forever. (This is also why you and I are not scientists.)
In fact, the study showed that drinking two bottles of beer a day is not as healthy as drinking one bottle a day, because it reduces the risk of various aging diseases by only 10 per cent.
And the bad news is that drinking three bottles of beer a day actually causes the blood to become pro-oxidant and increases the risk of such diseases 30 to 40 per cent.
Personally, this is good and bad news. I love beer so the good is that it is good for you. The bad is that I will have to cut back on it a little for it seems that it is only good in moderation. 
Sources: Slashdot, The University of Western Ontario and London Free Press.