Beer : Health and Nutrition

154 Chapter Six
of the reactivity of a single patient to various foodstuffs, the common denominator of
which was lipid transfer protein. However, curiously, not all beers caused a reaction.
Kortekangassavolainen et al. (1993) report on allergic reactions to brewing yeast.
The common cold
Might we anticipate other ailments for which claims for helpful impacts of alcoholic
beverages are made? And will these continue sometimes to favour wine over beer? To
illustrate, Takkouche et al. (2002), from a study of faculty and staff of ve Spanish
universities, found that consumption of wine, especially red wine, led to a reduced risk
of suffering from the clinical common cold. No such bene t was observed for beer or
spirits. It will be interesting to see whether such a study performed in a primarily beerdrinking
country might lead to another conclusion. Certainly, Cohen et al. (1993) found
that smokers were more prone to the cold than were non-smokers, and that among the
latter, those taking 3 to 4 drinks per day were the least susceptible of all.