Beer : Health and Nutrition

Table 5.12 Mineral density of foods (mg/1000 kcal).
Antioxidants
The Composition of Beer in Relation to Nutrition and Health 113
Beer Cereals Meat Fruits and vegetables
Potassium 72 32.5 74.1 203
Magnesium 14 6.9 5.3 12.7
Iron 0.07 0.5 0.26 0.43
Calcium 5.5 19.1 6.2 14.8
Zinc 0.07 0.2 0.5 0.24
Source: based on Righelato (2001).
Table 5.13 Contribution of foods to fibre consumption.
Food Fibre (g/1000 kcal)
Beer 0.72
Cereals 0.5
Meat Trace
Fruits and vegetables 1.36
Based on Righelato (2001)
Few (if any) texts give much credit to beer as a source of antioxidants. And yet beers
are generally a valuable source of polyphenols (Table 5.14). Paganga et al. (1999)
analysed the major avone, avonol, anthocyanidin and hydroxycinnamic acid
constituents of various foodstuffs and assessed their antioxidant activities. Using a
standard index for oxidation they showed that the antioxidant activities of one glass
(150 mL) red wine = 12 glasses white wine = 2 cups of tea = 4 apples = 5 portions of
onion = 5.5 portions of eggplant (aubergine) = 3.5 glasses of blackcurrant juice = 3.5
(500 mL) glasses of beer = 7 glasses of orange juice = 20 glasses of apple juice (long
life). Some degree of caution must always be displayed when analysing data of this
type. Such comparisons are generally made using a standard test-tube based assay in
which the foodstuffs are compared for their relative ability to prevent oxidation in a
model system. This does not necessarily mean that the antioxidants from the various
foodstuffs are taken into the body with equal ef ciency, or that their ability to protect
sensitive molecules in the body is the same as their ability to prevent oxidation of a
‘marker’ molecule in vitro.
According to some workers, levels of antioxidants in beer are of the same order of
magnitude as those found in fruit juices, teas and wines (Vinson et al. 1999; Gorinstein
et al. 2000). Flavonoids in foodstuffs have attracted the most attention for their potential
value as chemoprotective agents (Horvathova et al. 2001). The polyphenols derived
from beer are much more ef cacious as inhibitors of the oxidation of LDL and CLDL