My questions to the experts. Says the Prof. Nicola Sorrentino

La birra è una bevanda naturale e salutare priva di grassi e povera di sodio. It’ often at the center of debate and controversy, that create confusion and mistrust in the drinker: we clearly!

A glass of our favorite blonde does not make you fat and brings the right mix of vitamins, fiber, Mineral sali, and antioxidants. A glass of light beer with meals (200 cc) makes only 68 kcal, about the same as a similar quantity of orange juice or a 'other drink fruit-based, less than a glass (125 cc) of red or white wine, half of any soft drink.

It should be debunked the idea that beer is a drink high-calorie and full of chemicals harmful to our health. The beer is made only from natural substances such as barley and hops and only those who drink large amounts tend to gain weight. This idea of ​​fattening drink, probably, is related to the fact that in some countries of Northern Europe its excessive consumption is also linked to an unhealthy diet, rich in fat and calories.

The beer instead, combined with a proper lifestyle and Mediterranean-type diet healthy and balanced, can beneficially affect our state of physical well-being. There are many scientific studies that say that moderate consumption of alcohol is combined with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, thanks to the presence of minor compounds such as polyphenols, also important to reduce the oxidizing phenomena related to aging in general.

Il basso tenore alcolico e la sua “lightness” make beer suitable for men and women interested in their physical form, and who do not want to gain weight. Studies conducted in the U.S. showed that women used to drink a glass of beer with the meal, make less effort to stay leaner than teetotal.

Often women do not like to drink beer because they fear that the foam gives a sense of swelling resulting in dilation of the stomach and annoying. But the foam does not swell because the excess carbon dioxide remains trapped in the foam itself and is not ingested. In the opinion of experts a good beer should be served with a very compact and high foam at least two fingers. All the reasons that make beer “clear” a friend of the line!

My questions to the experts ...

                                   Says the Prof. Nicola Sorrentino

• And 'it is known my great love for wine. From a medical point of view you want to give some advice?

After the pasta I love wine. That good and possibly red, of course, with all due respect to the other wines…

Ethanol, fundamental constituent of alcoholic beverages, taken at high doses, however, is harmful to health. Our body is able to withstand this component without obvious damage, provided that the Units are not exceeded Alcoholic (U.A.) recommended daily. A glass of wine (125 ml) contains 12 g of ethanol and corresponds to 1 U.A.

It is advisable to drink moderately,  the man two glasses, the woman and the old man one glass, always with a meal and carefully before you start driving. This recommended dose, in an adult and healthy, can not be determined by strict rules, because the individual variables are multiple, moderate because the recommended dose for one person may be excessive for another.  it is still not possible to accurately predict the amount of alcohol in the blood based on what has been ingested.

Anyhow, in most countries of the world, with regard to the driving of the car, the concentration of alcohol in the blood over 0,5 Article. per liter is punishable. Values ​​already, however, of 0,2 Article. per liter can lead to a behavior more gay.

The concentration of ethanol in the blood depends on various factors: ingested by the share, the method of recruitment (fasting or during a meal), body composition, by weight, sex, the individual's ability to metabolize alcohol and alcohol habit. Women have a lower efficiency to metabolize alcohol and are more vulnerable to its effects. A man 70 kg to dispose of the alcohol content of a wine glass takes about 2 hours. Moderate drinking does not mean you only drink a little, but also do not drink ravvicinatamene; our body in this way disposing better ethanol.

It is not recommended to consume alcohol in a concentrated manner over the weekend, common practice in our country. A moderate amount of wine and regular (o di birra) taken with a meal may exert beneficial effects in protecting cardiovascular disease. Beneficial effects due to the presence of polyphenols, which are rich red wines, resveratrol with quercetin, substances with strong antioxidant properties.

L’abuso cronico, instead, alcohol is able to cause a series of damage a variant systems (on the nervous system, on the digestive system, on the liver, etc..). Evitate alcohol during the infanzia, the adolescenza, the gravidanza, breastfeeding. Reduce or avoid alcohol if family history of diabetes, obesity and high triglycerides. Pay attention to the interaction of alcohol with many drugs.