Two Beers A Better Painkiller Than Paracetamol According To Study
As National Beer Lover’s Day approaches, we list some interesting research that has surfaced about beer
Food, Health
Beer lovers can rejoice on National Beer Lover’s Day this September 7! It’s time to break out those German steins, decorative pitchers and creative beer bottles to celebrate all things beer. Aside from this, there’s some compelling research that may interest its lovers about the popular beverage.
The next time you have a severe headache, gulping beer might just do the trick. According to a study, this provides better pain relief than consuming the medication paracetamo. You read that right!
The research
Researchers from the University of Greenwich compared 18 controlled experiments involving more than 400 people, all exposed to various forms of induced pain such as cold, heat and pressure. The results showed that drinking two pints of beer could decrease pain by up to 24%. The findings suggested alcohol is an effective analgesic which delivers clinically proven reductions in pain intensity.
According to the study, this could also explain alcohol misuse for those with persistent pain, despite the long-term dangers of overly drinking alcohol. Dr Trevor Thompson, who led the study, emphasized alcohol pain-killer effectiveness can be compared to opioid drugs such as codeine and its effects are greater than paracetamol.
Benefits of drinking beer
The study, published in the “Journal of Pain,” discovered that despite all its bad press, alcohol is actually “an effective analgesic” that delivers a “clinically-relevant” reduction in pain intensity. Drinking beer in moderation is beneficial in this aspect because it gives the body a threshold to bear the discomfort, as it elevates blood alcohol level by 0.08%.
However, this doesn’t mean beer should be consumed daily as a means of managing persistent pain. Despite being an analgesic, drinking beer excessively is still associated with a number of health risks.
Aside from its pain-killing effects, beer is a popular beverage and it’s brewing processes go back to ancient times in cultures the world over. Beer lovers are sure to savor the taste on National Beer Lovers Day!