Few drinks divide the world so spectacularly as beer or wine.
There’s no accounting for taste, of course – but there are subtle differences in the way
they affect your body and determine your health. Is one more fattening than another?
How do their heart benefits compare? And which gives the worse hangover?
BBC Future has combed through the data to bust some of the myths surrounding two of
the world’s favourite drinks.
Which gets you drunk more quickly?
A pint of lager and a medium glass of wine both contain around the same alcohol
content – two or three British units (16-24g). However, your descent into inebriation
relies on that alcohol passing into your blood stream – and the speed at which this
happens can depend on the type of drink.
The speed at which you get inebriated can depend on the type of drink
Mack Mitchell at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre recently asked a
group of 15 men to imbibe different drinks on different days. He made sure that the
alcohol content was precisely matched to their body weight – and ensured they drank
the alcohol at precisely the same rate, over a 20 minute period. Unsurprisingly, spirits
entered the blood stream quickest, leading to the highest peak in blood alcohol content
– followed by wine (reaching a peak 54 minutes after drinking) and then beer (which
peaked 62 minutes after the drink was finished). In other words, a glass of wine will go
to your head more quickly than a pint of beer.
Verdict: Beer is less likely to lead to embarrassment
Which gives the worst hangover?
Despite their best efforts, scientists have yet to conquer the drinker’s most formidable
foe: the hangover. We don’t even fully understand what causes it. Dehydration is likely to
be an important factor (alcohol makes us pee more liquid than we take in) but it may
also be caused by some of the byproducts of fermentation. Called congeners, these
organic molecules give each drink its unique flavour and aroma, but they may also be
toxic to the body, resulting in the throbbing head and nausea that usually follows a night
of excess.
In general, darker drinks are thought to contain more congeners. In fact, the evidence so
far is ambiguous. Although certain dark spirits like bourbon do seem to produce a worse
hangover than crystal clear vodka, different types of beer and wine so far seem to be
equal . So provided you haven’t turned to the hard stuff, you can’t blame your choice of
drink for your agony.
Verdict: Too ambiguous to call
Which is better (or worse) for my health?
We are often told that a glass of wine a day could help rejuvenate the body, reducing
our risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. This life-giving sustenance
is thought to come from “polyphenols” (found especially in red wine) that soothe
inflammation and mop up damaging chemicals in the body.
If drank in moderation, a glass a day really may keep the doctor away
Beer is conspicuously absent from these health bulletins, but it too contains a fair share
of polyphenols, and seems to offer modest benefits, akin to white wine but less than red
wine. Clearly, none of this gives you a free pass to binge drink, but if drank in
moderation, a glass a day really may keep the doctor away.
Verdict: Red wine wins hands down, but beer may be better than no drink at all
Overall verdict: When it comes to health benefits, wine edges it as the best medicine.
However, beer drinkers can at least respond that their drink has the more illustrious
history. In fact, some anthropologists have suggested that our taste for beer might have
planted the seeds of agriculture, and therefore civilisation itself. That’s something to
contemplate the next time you’re waiting at the bar.
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