Happy National Beer Day!
In honor of this great and extremely important holiday, we've decided to round up all the reasons why you should love this awesome drink. It turns out that beer has many uses you may have never known of before. Did you know that in many places in Europe people use it to improve their skin? Read on for more cool facts.
1. First things first, beer + food = perfect harmony.
Burgers and beer: There couldn't be a more natural pair.
Or the quintessential wings and beer...
And it always helps wash down spicy food.
2. Beer might be more nutritious than other alcohols.
Wine gets all the credit, but beer has just as many antioxidants, according to CNN. What's more, beer is higher in protein and vitamin B. While we wouldn't recommend any alcohol as a health food, if you're planning on having an alcoholic drink, it may as well be one that contains iron, calcium, phosphates and fiber.
3. You can batter foods in beer.
We all know you can batter amazing things like chicken and fish in beer, but Nick Chipman, from DudeFoods.com, decided to make this masterpiece: beer and bacon battered deep fried Doritos. Take a moment to bask in its glory.
4. Drinking a beer a day could make you age smarter (if you are a woman).
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that women who had one alcoholic drink a day had less cognitive impairment and less decline in their cognitive function compared to women who abstained from any alcoholic beverages. The researchers theorized that alcohol protects the brain by improving blood circulation, reported the Washington Post. And while the subjects of the study benefitted from any alcoholic drink in moderation, why not make it a beer?
5. Beer is good for your heart.
It doesn't matter if you're a male or a female, drinking beer keeps your heart healthy. According to a study Researchers at Italy's Fondazione di Ricerca e Cura, moderate beer drinking (a little more than a pint of beer a day) makes you 31 percent less likely than those who don't drink to suffer from hearts attacks, strokes or heart disease.
6. And it could help prevent kidney stones.
Drinking beer could actually help reduce your risk of developing kidney stones, according to a recent study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. According to that study, men and women who reported drinking a moderate amount of beer reduced their risk of developing a stone by 41 percent. By contrast, drinking soda increased their risk by 23 percent.
7. It could effectively save your bad hair day
Make-up artist Shalini Vahera told HuffPost Live that if you girls want to get rid of your frizzy hair and add "a lot of volume" to your hair, you better start putting flat German or Belgian beer in your hair. Others seem to agree. According to Refinery 29, "The malt nourishes and smoothes hair, while yeast strengthens your strands and pumps up the volume." Even celebrities like Catherine Zeta-Jones put beer in their hair. We're down to give it a try, although we'd be most likely to rinse our hair in beer after downing more than a couple the conventional way.
8. You can bathe in it for better skin.
An article in the New York Times reported on the popularity of "beer spas" in Europe. People go to these spas to soak their skin in dark lager due to it's reputed therapeutic benefits. It's also apparently good for your face. The article states that customers at these spas indulge in the beer facial, which includes a "gooey mask made from ground hops, malt, honey and cream cheese." Yum!
9. Last but not least, cooking with beer makes food taste so much better.
There's an amazing blogger out there named Jackie who goes by "The Beeroness." On her site she explains her inspiration: "Over the years my fascination with beer has evolved into a fixation with creating recipes that highlight and magnify the flavors that Head Brewers spend so much time developing." She creates amazing recipes like these...
Now, go enjoy your beer as much as this parrot does.
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