Weaker Beer Could Reduce Harm, Even Curb Addiction

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Weaker beer could reduce harm according to many in the hospitality industry believing that it has further caught on with the campaign to minimize alcohol consumption to promote better health.

Weaker beer could reduce harm and a way out for alcoholism

Only recently has the Canadian food and beverage industry adopted a strategy to counter alcohol addiction with recent malt brewing techniques that lowered the alcohol content of several beer brands.

While the beer market has been actively campaigning with the support of the government to take action on the campaign to drive down alcohol consumption that resulted to alcohol-free products, it may be in for a surprise.

Researchers from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health suggests that they may be a win-win solution with the consumers and alcohol purveyors.

Jurgen Rehm, director of the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the CAMH, is proposing that there is a way to reduce the alcohol content of alcoholic beverages like beer and wine, without affecting taste.

“That means we should, for example, reduce the [alcohol]content of beer from an average of 5.5 per cent to an average of 4.5 per cent. That will not, according to all of the studies we know, [have an]impact on consumers; that they suddenly drink one bottle more of beer, because the consumers usually don’t even notice that. But it will have a tremendous impact on health” says Rehm.

The study was recently published in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology where the researchers were suggesting that reducing alcohol levels also lowers the effects of ethanol, which has been found to be the most harmful ingredient found in alcoholic beverages.

Experiments yielded ‘cool’ results

In one of the tests Rehm and his team conducted, they coordinated with a fraternity and asked the students in the party to drink their usual alcoholic beverages, except that the students were not told that the drinks were divided into full-strength and reduced-levels of alcohol.

The students who drank the reduced alcohol drinks were later found to have lower blood-alcohol levels but still had fun at the party.

A separate study from Australia shows that as legislators increased taxes on alcoholic beverages those with 30-proof and above, they noted a sharp decrease in alcohol-related accidents and deaths.

The researchers are hoping that their study findings will be able to provide equally beneficial solutions without having to edge one over the other. 

The negative effects of alcohol

Several health risks have been associated with alcohol consumption ranging from anemia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver and dementia, among several others.

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