There is no healthy amount of alcohol. Not a glass of wine, not a glass of beer. We have engraved it in ourselves from the warnings of doctors and nutritionists, we try to do kindness and when we go out perhaps we look for alternatives, from time to time. And non-alcoholic beer is one. Its consumption has been growing significantly in recent years: it increased by 11% last year, according to data from Cerveceros de España. Now almost 13% of the beer we consume in the state is non-alcoholic, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Now, just because it is a better option than alcoholic beer does not make 0.0 the most recommended drink. "While it is true that it can provide nutrients, saying that non-alcoholic beer is healthy can lead to confusion and cause some people to introduce it regularly into their diet," explains Laura Bonet, nutritionist dietician at the Alimmenta nutrition clinic. .
One of the properties associated with non-alcoholic beer is hydration. “However, water should always be the first option in this case. In no way should non-alcoholic beer lower your daily water consumption. Yes, it can be a good option to drink if you go out for a drink with family or friends... but it is not a food that should be part of our daily diet,” Bonet points out.
As the nutritionist explains, the 30 kcal provided by non-alcoholic beer per 100ml come from rapidly absorbed carbohydrates, “which should not be the most abundant carbohydrates in our diet.”
Beer's folate and calcium content is usually highlighted. “About 100ml of beer provides us with 15 mg of folate and 5 mg of calcium. If we take into account that the daily calcium requirements for an adult are about 1,000 mg and the folate requirements are about 350 mg, what a beer gives us is nothing extraordinary."
As for people with alcohol addiction, there are indications that “consumption of non-alcoholic beverages is not a good alternative. In these cases, the consumption of non-alcoholic beer can increase the desire to consume alcoholic beverages.”
Non-alcoholic beer is not an essential or necessary food in a healthy and balanced diet, but it can be part of it. "It is a good alternative to hydrate yourself and give variety to your diet when you go out for a drink on a terrace, for example." Now, it should not be consumed thinking that its contribution in folate or calcium is key, because that is not the case.
You can read the original RAC1 article at this link.
