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Leader Live
30-06-2025
- Health
- Leader Live
The 6 beers good for your gut health according to experts
Health experts have revealed beers like Guinness, Stella Artois Unfiltered, and London Porter Dark Ale could all have benefits when it comes to your gut health. Researchers have been accumulating evidence to suggest that certain beers could help improve the diversity of species in the gut microbiome. A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, from 2022, followed 22 men who drank a little more than half a pint of beer every day for four weeks and found as a result, they had better intestinal health, The Telegraph reported. Health experts have now conducted a review of experiments in Frontiers in Nutrition and have come to the conclusion that various ingredients in beer may have a positive impact on the immune system. Nutrition researcher at King's College London and founder of The Gut Health Doctor, Dr Megan Rossi, said this was due to plant chemicals known as polyphenols, which are found in certain beers, and are useful for the bacteria in your gut. Dr Rossi, speaking to The Telegraph, said: 'Bacteria have been shown to digest about 90 per cent of polyphenols and turn them into chemicals, which can have anti-inflammatory effects." The six beers that are good for your gut health, according to health experts, are: Guinness is thought to be rich in certain plant chemicals, according to Dr Rossi. She said: 'Some polyphenols are particularly high in Guinness. "We talk about diversity (being good for the gut), and that's the case for drinks as well. "So, if you drank a little bit of Guinness one night, and then a little red wine another time, while keeping within the alcohol limit, that's probably going to get you a wider range of these polyphenols.' Guinness is among the beers experts say could be beneficial for your health. (Image: PA) Medical scientist at Imperial College London, Dr Federica Amati, said: 'It's not a health drink, but some of these ales will contain more of these useful chemicals as well as yeast strains left in the beer. 'They're probably not going to be alive, but there's a vein of thought that they still have some sort of beneficial impact on our immune system when they reach the gut.' Belgian branded beers such as Hoegaarden, Westmalle Tripel and Echt Kriekenbier are fermented twice. This second fermentation uses a different strain from the traditional brewer's yeast, The Telegraph reports, which not only increases the strength of the beer, but also means it contains more useful microbes. Belgian professor Jeroen Raes added: 'We know that even dead yeasts could have an effect on the composition of the microbiota, and it could also have an effect on transit times." Craft beers and dark ales also contain gut-boosting yeast, according to The Telegraph. Dr Amati said if there's a little bit of sediment at the bottom of your craft beer or dark ale, "that's always a good sign". If you are a larger drinker, try finding an unfiltered version as it may contain more potentially useful chemicals, as well as having a more "complex flavour and aroma". Dr Amati continues: 'If you drink a fairly long fermented and traditionally made beer, so not one that's super filtered, you will get some of those polyphenols and yeast strains left in the beer." If you are a larger drinker, finding an unfiltered version will be better for your gut health. (Image: PA) "Drinking alcohol-free beers could offer all the benefits to your gut, without the disadvantages of the actual alcohol content," The Telegraph said. Alcohol free beer - in particular Doom Bar's version - are said to be more likely to contain helpful plant chemicals. According to Dr Amati, there are also several artisan cider brands, including the likes of Old Rosie Scrumpy Cider and Henry Westons Vintage Cider, that can have benefits for the gut microbiome. She explained: 'They tend to have some of the actual fruit left in the drink, meaning that fermentation carries on for longer. 'The cloudier ciders are better as these are sugars known as polysaccharides which float in the cider and they're good prebiotics to feed the gut bugs.' Other drinks, such as mead, are also thought to be beneficial for the gut. While the likes of Guinness, Newcastle Brown Ale and Stella Artois Unfiltered are good for your health, there are a number of beers that are not so good for you, and the experts have warned to avoid them. There are also beers to avoid, according to health experts, including the likes of Budweiser, San Miguel and Peroni. (Image: JD Wetherspoon) The six beers drinkers should avoid, according to the health experts, are: While the experts say there are benefits to some beers, they also emphasise alcoholic drinks are not health drinks and in many cases, any benefits for the gut are likely to be cancelled out by the impact of alcohol on the body. Dr Amati said: "I'm very keen to pass on the message that we have to drink very moderately. 'Have at least three days with no alcohol in your week, and no more than one drink when you do drink.' While Dr Rossi advocates drinking no more than one or two alcoholic drinks at a time. RECOMMENDED READING: Is wine good for you and what are the healthiest options - dietician has their say Chocolate is good for you and here are the 7 health benefits to prove it Walkers Cheese & Onion to Kettle Lightly Salted - which crisps are the healthiest? These are the 8 foods to eat that will help you live to 100 (or longer) She added: 'When we're talking about any anti-inflammatory benefits for the gut from these darker beers, that becomes pro-inflammatory after about two drinks.' 'That's because the alcohol starts to make the gut a little bit leaky, allowing things to move from our gut into the bloodstream that wouldn't normally be there, and causing low-grade inflammation.' The NHS recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more. That equates to around six medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or six pints of 4% beer.
North Wales Chronicle
30-06-2025
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
The 6 beers good for your gut health according to experts
Health experts have revealed beers like Guinness, Stella Artois Unfiltered, and London Porter Dark Ale could all have benefits when it comes to your gut health. Researchers have been accumulating evidence to suggest that certain beers could help improve the diversity of species in the gut microbiome. A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, from 2022, followed 22 men who drank a little more than half a pint of beer every day for four weeks and found as a result, they had better intestinal health, The Telegraph reported. Health experts have now conducted a review of experiments in Frontiers in Nutrition and have come to the conclusion that various ingredients in beer may have a positive impact on the immune system. Nutrition researcher at King's College London and founder of The Gut Health Doctor, Dr Megan Rossi, said this was due to plant chemicals known as polyphenols, which are found in certain beers, and are useful for the bacteria in your gut. Dr Rossi, speaking to The Telegraph, said: 'Bacteria have been shown to digest about 90 per cent of polyphenols and turn them into chemicals, which can have anti-inflammatory effects." The six beers that are good for your gut health, according to health experts, are: Guinness is thought to be rich in certain plant chemicals, according to Dr Rossi. She said: 'Some polyphenols are particularly high in Guinness. "We talk about diversity (being good for the gut), and that's the case for drinks as well. "So, if you drank a little bit of Guinness one night, and then a little red wine another time, while keeping within the alcohol limit, that's probably going to get you a wider range of these polyphenols.' Guinness is among the beers experts say could be beneficial for your health. (Image: PA) Medical scientist at Imperial College London, Dr Federica Amati, said: 'It's not a health drink, but some of these ales will contain more of these useful chemicals as well as yeast strains left in the beer. 'They're probably not going to be alive, but there's a vein of thought that they still have some sort of beneficial impact on our immune system when they reach the gut.' Belgian branded beers such as Hoegaarden, Westmalle Tripel and Echt Kriekenbier are fermented twice. This second fermentation uses a different strain from the traditional brewer's yeast, The Telegraph reports, which not only increases the strength of the beer, but also means it contains more useful microbes. Belgian professor Jeroen Raes added: 'We know that even dead yeasts could have an effect on the composition of the microbiota, and it could also have an effect on transit times." Craft beers and dark ales also contain gut-boosting yeast, according to The Telegraph. Dr Amati said if there's a little bit of sediment at the bottom of your craft beer or dark ale, "that's always a good sign". If you are a larger drinker, try finding an unfiltered version as it may contain more potentially useful chemicals, as well as having a more "complex flavour and aroma". Dr Amati continues: 'If you drink a fairly long fermented and traditionally made beer, so not one that's super filtered, you will get some of those polyphenols and yeast strains left in the beer." If you are a larger drinker, finding an unfiltered version will be better for your gut health. (Image: PA) "Drinking alcohol-free beers could offer all the benefits to your gut, without the disadvantages of the actual alcohol content," The Telegraph said. Alcohol free beer - in particular Doom Bar's version - are said to be more likely to contain helpful plant chemicals. According to Dr Amati, there are also several artisan cider brands, including the likes of Old Rosie Scrumpy Cider and Henry Westons Vintage Cider, that can have benefits for the gut microbiome. She explained: 'They tend to have some of the actual fruit left in the drink, meaning that fermentation carries on for longer. 'The cloudier ciders are better as these are sugars known as polysaccharides which float in the cider and they're good prebiotics to feed the gut bugs.' Other drinks, such as mead, are also thought to be beneficial for the gut. While the likes of Guinness, Newcastle Brown Ale and Stella Artois Unfiltered are good for your health, there are a number of beers that are not so good for you, and the experts have warned to avoid them. There are also beers to avoid, according to health experts, including the likes of Budweiser, San Miguel and Peroni. (Image: JD Wetherspoon) The six beers drinkers should avoid, according to the health experts, are: While the experts say there are benefits to some beers, they also emphasise alcoholic drinks are not health drinks and in many cases, any benefits for the gut are likely to be cancelled out by the impact of alcohol on the body. Dr Amati said: "I'm very keen to pass on the message that we have to drink very moderately. 'Have at least three days with no alcohol in your week, and no more than one drink when you do drink.' While Dr Rossi advocates drinking no more than one or two alcoholic drinks at a time. RECOMMENDED READING: Is wine good for you and what are the healthiest options - dietician has their say Chocolate is good for you and here are the 7 health benefits to prove it Walkers Cheese & Onion to Kettle Lightly Salted - which crisps are the healthiest? These are the 8 foods to eat that will help you live to 100 (or longer) She added: 'When we're talking about any anti-inflammatory benefits for the gut from these darker beers, that becomes pro-inflammatory after about two drinks.' 'That's because the alcohol starts to make the gut a little bit leaky, allowing things to move from our gut into the bloodstream that wouldn't normally be there, and causing low-grade inflammation.' The NHS recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more. That equates to around six medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or six pints of 4% beer.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists discover why some hot peppers are total wild cards
Hot peppers aren't for everyone, but that's where the Scoville scale comes in handy. The scale is named after American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, who developed the pepper spiciness test in 1912. To determine a rating, an exact amount of dried pepper is dissolved in alcohol to extract its capsaicinoids, the group of compounds responsible for all that heat. This solution is then diluted with sugar water and assessed by a trained panel of specialists. To get a sense of the spectrum, bell peppers rank around a 0 on Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), while notorious hybrids like the Carolina reaper measure as much as 2,500,000 SHUs. But even the Carolina reaper pales in comparison to Pepper X, the Guinness World Record holder for hottest hot pepper, ranking in at a bear spray-like 2,693,000 SHUs. As you may have already worried, even a trained human taste tester can offer subjective assessments, making the Scoville scale more of an approximation than a science. Sometimes a highly rated pepper feels like a dud, or what should be a moderate jalapeno results in gulping down multiple glasses of milk. But even modern methodologies based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) can rate peppers in ways that confound a sweating hot sauce enthusiast. If the capsaicinoids—particularly capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin—are tallied accurately, then why the varying perceived heat levels? That's what a team of researchers recently set out to determine. Their conclusions, published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, identifies a trio of separate compounds that can essentially function as an 'anti-spice' weapon. And the ramifications go far beyond the palette. To get to the bottom of the spice mystery, experts at The Ohio State University collected powdered samples from 10 pepper varieties including serrano, Scotch bonnet, and Chile de árbol. They then measured each fruit's capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin levels using a process known as liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. A trained group of taste testers next tried each pepper powder after mixing them into tomato juice. Don't worry—no volunteers were harmed during the experiment. Instead, the concoctions featured just enough of each respective powder to bring the heat up to 800 SHU. That's around the spice of a Cuban pepper, but less than a poblano. While each sample contained the same levels of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, participants reported a significantly wide range of perceived heat across the 10 peppers. Their hot takes (sorry) implied more than just the capsaicinoids were at play. Researchers then ran multiple more chemical composition analyses including nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to ultimately pinpoint another five naturally occurring compounds suspected of influencing each pepper's perceived spice level. The team next asked another group of taste testers to judge whether those compounds altered capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin pungency, either on their own or in combination with one another. Scientists ultimately determined that while three of those compounds—capsianoside I, roseoside, and gingerglycolipid A—reduced intensity, they didn't do so in combination with one another. Notably, none of them also offered a discernible flavor when mixed into water. According to study corresponding author Devin Peterson, these newly identified compounds can serve as key additives to fine-tune everyday cuisine. 'These advancements could enable the customization of desirable spicy flavor profiles or lead to the creation of a household ingredient designed to tone down excessive heat in dishes—the anti-spice,' Peterson said in an accompanying statement. The possibilities extend far beyond the kitchen. Aside from food customization, pharmaceutical designers may soon turn to capsianoside I, roseoside, and gingerglycolipid A while creating new medications and treatments. Peterson suggests 'significant medical potential' could come by leveraging these compounds' ability to reduce perceived discomfort into novel non-opioid analgesic agents for managing pain In the meantime, the new study serves as a good reminder to always take Scoville levels with a grain of salt—not that sodium would help ease unintended pepper pains, of course.
NDTV
28-04-2025
- Health
- NDTV
Scientists Uncover World's Most Bitter Tasting Thing Ever
Scientists have discovered the most bitter-tasting thing ever, and it is not orange, lemon, or even Brussels sprouts. According to food researchers at the Technical University of Munich, a mushroom called Amaropostia stiptica, better known as bitter bracket fungus, is officially the 'most bitter thing in the world', as per a report in the BBC. The mushroom is widely available in Britain, and despite being extremely bitter, it is not toxic. The researchers extracted three compounds from the mushroom and studied their effect on human taste receptors. This tree-growing mushroom has a compound that is so potent that an individual would be able to taste a single gram of the substance dissolved in 106 bathtubs of water. Named oligoporin D, this chemical activates specialised bitter receptors in our mouths which also help detect natural poisons. Study's implications The study results, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry may help scientists research how humans evolved to be able to detect bitter tastes and why. Notably, bitter is one of the five basic taste sensations humans have, alongside sweet, sour, salty and savoury, also called "umami". "Our results contribute to expanding our knowledge of the molecular diversity and mode of action of natural bitter compounds," said lead researcher Dr Maik Behrens. "In the long term, insights in this area could enable new applications in food and health research, for example in the development of sensorially appealing foods that positively influence digestion and satiety." Prior to the German study, most of the research had centred around how flowering plants can have a bitter taste. However, fewer studies had been done looking at fungi such as mushrooms. Studies show that sensors for bitter substances are also found in the stomach, intestines, heart and lungs apart from the mouth. Previous studies have indicated that sensors for bitter substances are not only found in the mouth but also in the stomach, intestines, heart and lungs. Researchers stated that closely analysing compounds derived from fungi like oligoporin D could be key to understanding our complex relationship with bitterness.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists Identified a Healthier Way to Cook Broccoli – But There's a Catch
In recent years, broccoli has gained a reputation as an excellent vegetable due to its high levels of a particularly beneficial compound called sulforaphane. With some studies showing how this compound plays a role in blood sugar control and potentially even has anti-cancer benefits, it's no wonder that broccoli pills are on the rise. However, a previous study showed that eating the whole vegetable gets you more sulforaphane than taking a supplement – so a team of Chinese researchers decided to try and find the best way to cook broccoli. They arrived at a clear winner, publishing their results in 2018 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry – but it's a tough sell if you have better things to do with your time. There's a method behind the madness, though. Sulforaphane doesn't just sit there in the broccoli florets, ready to be consumed. Instead, the vegetable contains several compounds called glucosinolates. It also contains the enzyme myrosinase, which plants have evolved for defending themselves against herbivores. Through what's known as 'myrosinase activity', the glucosinolates get transformed into sulforaphane, which is what we want. To kick myrosinase activity into gear, you need to do damage to the broccoli, so you'd think cooking would do the trick. Unfortunately, studies have shown that common broccoli cooking methods, like boiling and microwaving, seriously reduce the amount of glucosinolates in the vegetable – even if you just zap it for a couple minutes. And myrosinase is super-sensitive to heat, too. Hence, by far the largest amount of sulforaphane you can get from broccoli is by munching on raw florets. Ugh. This got the team of researchers thinking about the results of stir-frying – the single most popular method for preparing vegetables in China. "Surprisingly, few methods have reported the sulforaphane concentrations in stir-fried broccoli, and to the best of our knowledge, no report has focused on sulforaphane stability in the stir-frying process," the researchers note in their study. The team bought a bunch of broccoli from the local market and set to work, measuring the levels of compounds in the vegetables as they went. First, they basically pulverized the broccoli, chopping it into 2-millimeter pieces to get as much myrosinase activity going as possible (remember, the activity happens when broccoli is damaged). Then, they divided their samples into three groups – one was left raw, one was stir-fried for four minutes straight after chopping, and the third was chopped and then left alone for 90 minutes before being stir-fried for four minutes as well. The 90-minute waiting period was to see whether the broccoli would have more time to develop the beneficial compounds before being lightly cooked. And that's exactly what the team found – the broccoli that was stir-fried right away had 2.8 times less sulforaphane than the one left to 'develop' for longer. "Our results suggest that after cutting broccoli florets into small pieces, they should be left for about 90 minutes before cooking," the team writes, adding that they didn't test it but thought "30 minutes would also be helpful". We're not sure we're willing to commit to all that effort, though. The team does say they're looking into ways to reduce the chopping needed, so watch this space – or just eat some raw broccoli. The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. An earlier version of this article was published in February 2018. Skin Injuries And Food Allergies May Have a Mysterious Connection Cancer's Devastating Effect on a Brain Circuit Could Destroy Will Does The Pill Raise Depression Risk? A New Study Explores The Link
