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A very, very brief history of beer in America

Beer has been brewed, in some form, in every culture for about as long as humans have inhabited the planet. But nowhere has it been more important from a cultural perspective than in Europe. When America was colonized, this European influence ensured that we'd become a nation of beer drinkers.

Originally, we were an ale country. When more Germans began arriving, in the mid-19th century, we started drinking more lagers. These lighter-style beers were more easily mass-produced and became the bastion of the early American breweries, run by guys like Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller.

The light—some would say watery—taste now associated with mass-produced American beer didn't come around until World War II, when brewers started substituting the traditional ingredients of beer with more available ingredients. Bland became synonymous with "American beer" until the rise of microbreweries in the late 20th century. Now Americans are privy to more varieties and a larger selection of beers than any place on earth. The epicenter of the beer world now seems to be Portland, Oregon, which is commonly referred to as "Beervana."

If beer is good, why are beer drinkers fat?

Before we discuss the benefits of beer, it's important to note that beer isn't some magical nectar of the gods. It requires moderation. The reason Homer and Norm have those bellies is that they don't just drink one beer, they drink a lot of beer. A six-pack (a seemingly perfectly round number for many beer drinkers) of pretty much any beverage in a day is going to have some negative side effects, just due to the number of calories consumed. An excess of beer can be especially detrimental for three reasons: carbonation, calories, and alcohol. Carbonation can neutralize stomach acids and this hampers digestion, so people trying to lose weight should avoid beer with meals. Calories, well, we all know what calories do. The average beer has 150 calories. When Homer drinks ten beers, he's consuming over 1,500 calories—before a donut even crosses his lips!

About 70 of those calories come from alcohol, an extremely controversial substance when it comes to its effects on the body. The over-consumption of alcohol is responsible for all sorts of nasty things, including cirrhosis of the liver and addiction. However, the RSC study, along with several other studies, indicates that two or three alcoholic drinks a day greatly reduce mortality rates, especially those involving cardiovascular disease.

That said, alcohol has also been found to inhibit muscular protein synthesis, which is the whole point of working out to begin with! So popping a cold one after that big basketball game or that Beachbody® fitness video probably isn't the best idea. Best to wait a few hours.

One final note on the negative effects of beer. Germany actually has beer purity laws (enacted in 1516) that guarantee that their brews are made of nothing but water, hops, yeast, and barley. We have no such laws in America, so you never know exactly what you're getting. Most of the bigger brewers put rice or corn in their beers to keep prices down. They can also load it with preservatives and chemicals. As a general rule, if you're looking for a healthy beer, the smaller the brewer, the better the beer. In fact, most small brewers proudly boast about their ingredients.

So what's so good about it, anyway?

Recent studies have been revealing many positive associations between beer and health. These include a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, an improved mental state in women, and increases in life span. Drinking beer can help reduce homocysteine levels, lower triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol, and reduce blood clotting. An important note is that a constant here is moderate consumption, but that should go without saying. So let's take a closer look at just what's in beer that makes it healthy.

One might be inclined to lump excessive carbohydrates in with the list of beer's problems, but this just isn't the case. Although it does have some carbohydrates, the idea that each brewski is a carb bomb is a myth. Generally, there are 5 to 11 carbohydrate grams in one 12-ounce bottle of beer. Milk has 18 grams. Soft drinks have 36 grams.

Thanks to its malted barley, beer also contains protein, at the rate of 0.7 to 2.1 grams per bottle. While most of the larger proteins are lost during the brewing process, beer still contains all the essential amino acids.

Malted barley also gives beer plenty of vitamins, particularly B vitamins. A bottle of beer can contain 10 to 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of niacin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and folate. But mass-produced beer lovers take note: beer's riboflavin comes from its barley, as well as its yeast. Beers brewed with barley substitutes such as rice (Budweiser, for example) contain fewer vitamins.

Another benefit of drinking beer is the water, which, among other things, prevents dehydration and helps maintain electrolyte balances. A bottle of beer has between 327 and 337 grams of water, as opposed to 12 ounces of wine, which is 302 to 323 grams water, or soft drinks, which have 315 grams of water.

Because good beer uses good, pure water, you'll also find a lot of minerals within, although which ones and how much depends entirely on the water's source. It's safe to say you'll usually find a good amount of potassium and magnesium, and plenty of calcium.

Both hops and malt add several phenolic compounds into the mix. Many of these compounds are the same as or similar to the antioxidants found in wine, tea, and several fruits and vegetables, all of which have been known to protect against cardiovascular disease. So it would appear that "The French Paradox" applies to ale drinkers as well.

So get out there and enjoy your Oktoberfest with the knowledge that you could be doing yourself some good. Just don't overdo it.

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1. Go with the grain. We've Like most Americans, I found my first encounter with German bread a bit alarming. At first glance, it appeared to be some kind of particleboard. Is this what all that IKEA furniture's made of? (Oh, wait, that's Sweden.) With kernels of grain you could actually see with the naked eye, there was no need to read the label to see if it was in fact whole grain—it looked like a vulcanized brick of wheat. But the bread is actually quite tasty, and a few bites in, you remember why the Germans are famed the world over for their pumpernickels and ryes. And unlike the pillowy, chemical-laden white breads of the American bread aisle, a slice of the more substantial German loaf takes longer to chew and fills you up more quickly—two things that help you eat less. Not to mention that it's full of fiber and naturally occurring vitamins, things we inexplicably bleach out of our bread in the U.S.

2. Have an open face. We've Another way the Germans beat the U.S. health-wise is in sandwich preparation. The first thing they do is serve the sandwich open-faced. Half the bread means half the carbs. The other thing they do which saves calories is that they let the bread be the star of the sandwich. A typical Butterbrot-style sandwich consists of a piece of bread, a thin layer of butter, and a slice of Schinken, which is smoked ham, similar to prosciutto. Butter and ham aren't the height of healthy eating, but the key is that the Germans use only enough to provide flavor—something a country that created a sandwich called the Baconator could take a lesson from. Plus the side dish is usually fresh fruit or pickled vegetables instead of potato chips or fries. And speaking of veggies . . .

3. Get pickled. We've We're not talking about a late night at the Bräuhaus. Rather, we're talking about all the tasty, low-calorie pickled veggies the Germans excel at making. With their brutal winters, vegetable preservation was a high priority in old German times. The classic pickled cucumber has been around since ancient Mesopotamia, but the Germans have taken pickling to new delicious heights. Polish-style cukes, popular in Germany, are usually pickled in brine, with no vinegar. The Germans also produce a variety of styles incorporating vinegar, garlic, dill, and other herbs and spices. In fact, the word "gherkin" comes from Gürke, the German word for cucumber and pickle. There are other delicious pickled vegetables like beets, tomatoes, and, the German classic, sauerkraut. All with hardly any calories or fat. However, some contain excessive amounts of sodium, which is something to keep an eye on. But as Germans become more and more health conscious, low-sodium versions are popping up all the time.

4. Clean your colon. We've As my German grandfather was fond of saying, "There's clean and then there's German clean." And this Teutonic zeal for cleanliness extends to the digestive system. Their fiber-rich diet is probably the biggest key to German health. This stands to reason since after packing their colons full of sausage and potatoes at lunch, a little roto-rooting action courtesy of whole grains is probably necessary to keep the mail moving. For breakfast, instead of sugary, rainbow-colored puffs, they typically eat whole-grain cereals like oatmeal or muesli. They also eat a lot of yogurt, which contains the flora necessary to keep all the pipes clean (if you decide you're really in a deep-cleansing mood, give the 2-Day Fast Formula® program a try).

5. Do lunch big. We've Another healthy habit Germans have is eating their big meal of the day in the middle of the day. The German word for the noontime meal is Mittagsessen, which literally means "eating in the middle of the day." This is usually when the hot entrées and side dishes are consumed, the ones Americans traditionally eat at the end of the day. Their last meal is called Abendbrot, which translates as "evening bread," and usually consists of a piece of bread with cold cuts or something similarly light. Since food is fuel, the earlier you eat it, the more time you have to burn it off. By frontloading their diet, the Germans burn off the lion's share of the calories they consume while performing their everyday activities. And by only having a light dinner, they go to bed on an almost-empty stomach, so the calories eaten are less likely to be stored as fat.

6. Take a hike. We've Where the rubber literally meets the road in German health is their penchant for walking and hiking. One of the rude awakenings of my exchange year was the realization that my host parents were not going to drive me anywhere. Where my American high school had a parking lot big enough to accommodate several hundred cars, my German high school had zero parking spaces for students and the longest bike racks I'd ever seen (which were well used by faculty members, as well as students.) Even on the days it rained (which were most of them), I was walking or biking where I needed to go. The family car only came out for road trips or major grocery expeditions. Most adults have a collection of Spazierstöcke, or walking sticks, as recreational walking or mountain hiking is a big part of most Germans' lifestyles. And walking at a brisk pace can burn over 300 calories per hour—that's a bratwurst! Of course if you really hit the Oktoberfestivities hard, you might do some Turbo Jam® Maximum Results routines—they burn off up to 1,000 calories an hour. That's two beers and two bratwursts you can have!

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