Finns, Fats and Heart Disease

[Guest guest]

Since we were talking about fats and heart disease, I thought I'd mention that

the one really GOOD predictor of heart disease is homocysteine levels.

Homocysteine levels are kept down by B6 (folate). Turns out that beer increases

the amount of folate in the blood. Now awhile back, LF beer was ubiquitous ...

folks drank it instead of water, and it was likely a lot healthier than the

water in many cases (water often had stuff like parasites and sewage bacteria).

Every culture seems to have had it's local beer-analog. Anyway, that means they

got a lot of nice B6 and other good stuff, and the lactic acid probably helped

regulate blood sugar too.

Anyway, the article below has some good stuff about *regular* beer, and I figure

LF beer (esp. Kefir or EM beer) is even better, and kombucha is likely in a

similar class.. Below that are some specs on molasses, which has a fair bit of

minerals. So I figure my kefir-beer-a-day routine might be one of the things

that has been giving me so much energy lately.

-- Heidi Jean

.....................................

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/233beer & health.html

Dutch researchers in 2000 offered evidence to counter the widely held belief

that red wine was better for the heart than beer. The Dutch study, led by Dr.

Henk Hendriks of the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, studied 11

healthy men who drank four glasses of either beer, red wine, spirits or water

with dinner for three months. They switched beverages every three weeks. Despite

the small number of subjects in the study, the results were striking.

The men showed a 30 percent increase in vitamin B6 in their blood plasma after

three weeks on beer. Drinkers of red wine and Dutch gin received only one-half

the increase in the vitamin. B6 prevents the body from building up high levels

of homocysteine, a chemical linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

Homocysteine levels did not increase in the beer drinkers, but rose for those

who drank wine or spirits

....

Beer contains significant amounts of magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus,

and biotin

Beer is chock full of the B vitamins (as anyone who has taken brewer's yeast as

a B supplement already knows), with impressive amounts of B3 (niacin), B5

(pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxin), and B9 (folate), with smaller amounts of B1

(thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B12 inotisol and choline.

Beer is 92 percent water

..............................................

That is REGULAR beer! Molasses LF beer should be far better. Zinc, copper, and

iron at least: see below.

http://www.bundysugar.com.au/molasses/products/molasses/nutrient.htm

Heidi Jean