In the summer heat, even the most ardent teetotalers and romantic ladies-strangers with a veil in their eyes, no, no, and even allow themselves to dream of a misted glass of golden beer. Well, well, quenching your thirst with this ancient natural drink is much healthier than synthetic soda. Throughout the history of beer, new healing properties have been discovered in it. Ancient Sumerian doctors recommended rinsing your mouth with warm beer to treat toothache. In the Middle Ages, it was prescribed in large quantities to expel kidney stones. Our ancestors rubbed their feet with beer after a long journey, and among the beauties, masks from it were considered a reliable panacea for aging skin.
The famous Paracelsus treated liver diseases and respiratory diseases with beer, and a special variety was recommended for each disease. Fortunately, there were many varieties of beer in ancient times. They differed not only in color and strength, but also in all sorts of taste and aromatic features that gave it different manufacturing technologies, or even just special additives, the recipes of which were stored and passed on to each family of brewers.
Of course, different varieties were used for medical and cosmetic purposes. So, for washing the kidneys from “stones” and “sand”, light, almost non-alcoholic beer was recommended. For the treatment of constipation – unfermented. For oily skin and hair problems – strong, with a high alcohol content. For fixing women’s hairstyles and giving them a special shine – bitter varieties with a high hop content.
Czech doctors considered beer to be a reliable remedy for cholera – and, indeed, the bacilli in the beer solution died in a few minutes. By the way, this recipe also had historical confirmation – devastating cholera epidemics almost never affected brewery workers.
Interestingly, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was recommended to take any medicine with beer. It was considered an excellent tonic, disinfectant and restorative drink even for small children. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, nannies and nurses did not consider it a sin to treat a crying child with a spoon or two of beer – for sound sleep and prevention of dysbacteriosis.
Nowadays, official medicine looks at beer not so favorably. Excess fluid, acquired along with multi-liter libations, is a serious burden on the kidneys and heart.. However, in such complications it is often not the beer itself that is to blame, but its traditional snack. After all, “for beer” it is customary to eat a variety of pickles – fish, nuts, crackers, and in the absence of those – and bare salt. It is salt, and not beer itself, that harms our heart to a greater extent. After all, as everyone knows, sodium contributes to fluid retention in the body, leading to edema and an increase in blood pressure. And if at the same time the “liquid” came in excess …
Beer, of course, is also harmful for people suffering from stomach ulcers and gastritis with high acidity. After all, it, as a rule, is carbonated, and carbon dioxide strongly irritates the gastric mucosa.
However, even today doctors do not deny that beer is an unconditionally healthy drink. At least the fact that it is made from natural natural substances contains a living fungal culture.
This, as you understand, refers to natural, that is, not pasteurized and canned beer. If the beer is pasteurized, then the content of useful substances in it is minimized, there are no live yeast cultures at all, but it is full of all kinds of synthetic preservatives and flavorings. Natural “live” beer has a very short life, so you need to look for it not in beautiful jars and bottles sealed six months ago, but closer to the manufacturer – in branded establishments of breweries or in the old fashioned way – in thermostatic barrels with “draft” beer. What can you do, not so aesthetically pleasing, but a guarantee of naturalness and freshness. For example, it removes carcinogens from the body. According to Japanese scientists, regular consumption of beer reduces the risk of cancer by 2-3 times..
But back to the beneficial properties of beer. Active substances contained in hops have a calming and analgesic effect, inhibit the growth and development of bacteria. So those who pursue precisely such goals (including the removal of a hangover syndrome) should choose bitter – the most hop-rich – beers.
Various masks and creams based on beer really help to smooth out wrinkles – the medieval Aesculapius were not mistaken.
Due to the large amount of B vitamins contained in brewer’s yeast, such masks improve the condition of the skin, especially oily, increasing its elasticity and improving blood circulation. Many people also use beer to get an even, beautiful tan, wetting their skin with beer during sun procedures.
As for the notorious “beer belly”, then the point here is not the calorie content of beer, but its belonging to alcoholic beverages. It lowers blood sugar levels by inhibiting the formation of glucose. Secondly, it contains hop bitterness, which activates the secretion of gastric juice, whetting the appetite. And thirdly, thanks to the diuretic activity of beer, salts are intensively washed out of the body, which it (the body) immediately tries to replace from new food.
The peculiarities of the female body often lead to the fact that even a small amount of beer produces the effect of a strong sleeping pill. This way of dealing with insomnia is quite possible to use. You just need to know the measure of “sleeping pills” so that “beer slumber” does not develop into alcoholic unconsciousness.
Yes, do not forget that, like any other medicine, beer is useful only in moderate doses. For a woman, one glass a day is enough.. Well, at what time of the day to drink it – in the midst of the heat or before bedtime – this is your own business.
