Guinness is good for you

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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:20 pm

Guinness good for you - official

The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers.

A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.

Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.

Guinness were told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.

The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease.

They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager.

Heart trigger

Clotting is important for patients who are at risk of a heart attack because they have hardened arteries.

A heart attack is triggered when a clot lodges in one of these arteries supplying the heart.

Many patients are prescribed low-dose aspirin as this cuts the ability of the blood to form these dangerous clots.

The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes.

“ We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients ”
Spokesman, Brewing Research International
They believe that "antioxidant compounds" in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.

However, Diageo, the company that now manufactures Guinness, said: "We never make any medical claims for our drinks."

The company now runs advertisements that call for "responsible drinking".

A spokesman for Brewing Research International, which conducts research for the industry, said she would be "wary" of placing the health benefits of any alcohol brand above another.

She said: "We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients.

"It is possible that there is an extra effect due to the antioxidants in Guinness - but I would like to see this research repeated."

She said that reviving the old adverts for Guinness might be problematic - at least in the EU.

Draft legislation could outlaw any health claims in adverts for alcohol in Europe, she said.

Feelgood factor

The original campaign in the 1920s stemmed from market research - when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan was born.

In England, post-operative patients used to be given Guinness, as were blood donors, based on the belief that it was high in iron.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness - the present advice is against this.

The UK is still the largest market in the world for Guinness, although the drink does not feature in the UK's top ten beer brands according to the latest research.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:52 pm

Quote:

A heart attack is triggered when a clot lodges in one of these arteries supplying the heart.

This is not true. That's the way a lung embolism forms: a clot forms in a vein (not artery) in your leg, a part of it breaks loose and travels to the heart through the venous system, the hart pumps it into the lung circulation and there it lodges in one of the smaller branches of the arteries, thus occluding it. Such a clot can (almost) never reach the (coronary) arteries (which are on the outside of the heart, and only receive blood that came out of the lung circulation, passed through the left chamber into the aorta and from there into the coronary arteries) that supply the heart muscle with blood as that would mean that they'd have to pass through the tiniest arteries in your lungs first (which is impossible).
Rather, heart attacks occur because the 'plaques' that narrow these arteries rupture. Then a clot is formed on that place and will easily occlude the artery as it's already narrowed.

Quote:

The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease.

Again, this isn't really that interesting, these dogs already have the damaged arteries that put them at risk for heart (and other vascular) disease. And they claim in the article that it was already known that the alcohol inhibits blood clotting (and therefore isn't what makes Guinness good for you because you can get the alcohol from other drinks (or aspirin) as well).
What would've been interesting is to see whether Guinness inhibits the progression of atherosclerosis (the process of hardening and narrowing the arteries) as that would prevent you from reaching a stage where you're seriously at risk.

To get back on topic: Yay! Beer!

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 10:41 pm

Does anybody still remember the Guinness Clocks from the Festival of Britain 1951.
Use to see one at Southend on sea, Essex during the illuminations, each year.

found this link

http://manchesterhistory.net/bellevue/guinness.html

** SUSPENDED ** Joined: 12 Aug 2008 Posts: 28

cannot remember, thanks

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:09 am

As a skinny teenager, as soon as I was old enough I started to top up my diet with Guinness and fish and chips to put some pounds on (which i still have).

Fo'andles wrote:

Does anybody still remember the Guinness Clocks from the Festival of Britain 1951.
Use to see one at Southend on sea, Essex during the illuminations, each year.

I remember the touring one on a trailer. it used to come to Morecambe in the summer, I would lurk around waiting for it to do amazing things every 15 minutes. Far too young for their target audience, little did they know how many pints I'd get through in later years.....

I remember the shape of a pint of Guinness going down the throat of the ostrich on the left, which must be based on this poster, which you can still see in Irish themed pubs today:

Quote:

As with the original Guinness Clocks, every quarter of an hour brought a frenzied burst of activity from an assortment of Guinness animals and their keeper accompanied by fairground music. In the centre a revolving stage with four set pieces showed Guinness in every season of the year and to the right in front of the caravan the ever-harassed keeper is chased by various animals from door to door. At first the keeper has the bottle of Guinness, then a few moments later, they all reappear, now running in the other direction, with the brown bear in front with the bottle being chased by the keeper. It was first exhibited at the Guinness Bicentenary Garden Party that summer then set off on its travels via Battersea Pleasure Gardens where it stayed for a fortnight. Since the Clocks' mechanism could easily be affected by wind, it was necessary to have an electrician standing by. He would also be responsible for counting the visitors to the clock.

Changing times were soon to doom these travelling mechanical wonders. Guinness no longer used the animals in its advertisements, and spare parts for the clocks became difficult to obtain. They were finally withdrawn in October 1966 and sent for scrap - a sad end to a much-loved and unique form of Guinness advertising.

It was scrapped in 1966, proving we are older than anyone would think. Wink

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 5:11 pm

Mmmmmmm- Guinness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still have a number of bottles sold by Guinness for "The Bottle of Guinness Supporters Club" Specific gravity for the 1981 brew was 1081, 1082 for the 1982 brew.

God knows what it would taste like now!

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 5:13 pm

I swear that Corona is good fer ya. Laughing

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:38 pm

I'll be the first to mention...only a Wisconsin College (Go Badgers!) would put their energies into proving a Guiness was good for all or you. Laughing

Elite Baiter Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 1693

I like Guinness Thumbs up

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93734&highlight=guinness

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 7:25 pm

Respect

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 720

Also known as Nigerian lager

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:05 am

Any fool can tell you that Guinness is good for you, it's the very elixir of life itself. It's brewed by leprechauns from Lotus nectar, collected at midnight by magic fairies. Everybody knows that. Rolling Eyes

However, I'll happily submit my body for this important medical research if they want to nail this health giving theory once and for all. Well, you have to do your bit for the good of humanity don't you? Very Happy

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:58 am

A German, an American and an Irishman were standing at the bar at the end of Day 1 of the World Beer Conference in Orlando, FL.

The boastful German orders a Becks..."the finest beer in all of Northern Germany"

The even more boastful American orders a Bud..."the best beer in all the world"

Paddy Irishman orders a diet Coke. The barman says "I was sure you were going to ask for a Guinness"

"No" came the reply. "If these guys aren't drinking, I'm not drinking"