Beer Here

The NFL is doing its best to play football and part of the fun of watching the game is having a beer or two. Moderate consumption of any alcoholic beverage is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease From a nutritional standpoint, beer contains more protein and B vitamins than wine. The antioxidant content of beer is equivalent to that of wine, but the specific antioxidants are different because the barley and hops used in the production of beer contain flavonoids different from those in the grapes used in the production of wine.

Where we run into problems is that there are a lot of games on Sunday and a couple of beers per game soon adds up. Binge drinking is defined as drinking five or more drinks on an occasion. Beer accounted for two thirds of all alcohol consumed by binge drinkers and accounted for most alcohol consumed by those at greatest risk of causing or incurring alcohol-related harm.

Overall, 74.4% of binge drinkers consumed beer exclusively or predominantly, and those who consumed at least some beer accounted for 80.5% of all binge alcohol consumption. By beverage type, beer accounted for 67.1%, liquor for 21.9%, and wine accounted for 10.9% of binge drinks consumed. Beer also accounted for most of the alcohol consumed by those at highest risk of causing or incurring alcohol-related harm, including people aged 18-20 years (67.0% of drinks were beer); those with three or more binge episodes per month (70.7%); those drinking eight or more drinks per binge episode (69.9%); those binging in public places (64.4%); and those who drove during or within 2 hours of binge drinking (67.1%).

Don’t forget that many beers have a lot of calories. There are plenty of lighter options – and watch out for the snacks!