Study says one beer a day is good for arteries

Modern Brewery Age, June 2, 2003

Researcher reporting at the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension said that one glass of wine, beer, or hard liquor per day improves arterial elasticity, even in patients with hypertension.

Reuven Zimlichman, MD, of Wolfson Medical Center and Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, reported that arterial elasticity is an accepted predictor of cardiovascular risk, and improves when conditions such as hypertension and dyslipidemia are treated properly. "It is an excellent surrogate endpoint for cardiovascular health," Dr. Zimlichman asserted.

To determine the effect of modest alcohol intake on arterial elasticity, Dr. Zimlichman and colleagues tracked 308 healthy European participants between 15 and 80 years of age.

Modest alcohol intake was defined as no more than one glass of wine or beer, or less than 30 milliliters of hard liquor per day. The study excluded heavy smokers, habitual drinkers, and subjects with disease. Those with mild obesity were allowed, as were smokers of a few cigarettes per day. Dr. Zimlichman noted, however, that smoking even a few cigarettes per day stiffens arteries. "All drinkers, particularly wine drinkers, demonstrated increased elasticity in both small and large arteries, as well as lower heart rates, compared with nondrinkers," noted Dr. Zimlichman. Wine drinkers also had a higher cardiac output.

Dr. Zimlichman said that arterial elasticity is easy to measure. "We measured radial artery waveforms using a calibrated proprietary tonometer. The noninvasive sensor derives mean values obtained over 16 cardiac cycles."

The only negative effect associated with moderate drinking was a slight increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Beer drinkers showed the highest blood pressure elevations, All blood pressure levels, however, were within the normal range. Dr. Zimlichman attributed the increase in blood pressure to a slight increase in systemic vascular resistance.

Dr. Zimlichman concluded that moderate wine drinking is associated with higher arterial elasticity, lower pulse rate, and higher stroke volume. He recommends one glass of wine, rather than hard liquor or beer, because patients will drink too much hard liquor, and, in this study, beer elevated blood pressure more than liquor or wine. He warned that excessive drinking increases blood pressure levels and reduces arterial elasticity.

[Study title: Effects of Modest Wine/Beer Drinking on Arterial Elasticity - The Seven European Sites Study (SESS). Abstract OR13]