drink away
John Beveridge
September 26, 2007 12:00am
SOMETIMES those discarded advertising slogans can be proved right.
Decades after health authorities canned the old slogan "Guinness is Good For You", some medical research has finally backed up the claim.
Wisconsin University tests found the black stout was effective in reducing blood clotting activity.
Indeed, a pint of the brew had a similar effect to an aspirin.
In contrast, normal lagers had no such anti-clotting effect, which made them useless at reducing the incidence of strokes and heart attacks.
Dogs with narrowed arteries similar to those in people with heart disease were used to compare the effects of drinking stout with those of drinking standard beer.
The research concluded that it was probably the antioxidant compounds found in Guinness that were thinning the blood.
Similar antioxidant compounds are also found in some fruits and vegetables.
The researchers said the most benefit was noticed when a pint was consumed at meal times.
Historically, Guinness was used as a restorative, which is where the 1920s slogan came from.
In those days some English hospitals even gave Guinness to post-operative patients and blood donors because of its high iron content.
Incredibly, pregnant women and nursing mothers were also advised to drink the stout - something doctors certainly frown on now.
Guinness's current owner, international drinks giant Diageo, said it never made medical claims about its products and urged responsible drinking.
September 26, 2007 12:00am
SOMETIMES those discarded advertising slogans can be proved right.
Decades after health authorities canned the old slogan "Guinness is Good For You", some medical research has finally backed up the claim.
Wisconsin University tests found the black stout was effective in reducing blood clotting activity.
Indeed, a pint of the brew had a similar effect to an aspirin.
In contrast, normal lagers had no such anti-clotting effect, which made them useless at reducing the incidence of strokes and heart attacks.
Dogs with narrowed arteries similar to those in people with heart disease were used to compare the effects of drinking stout with those of drinking standard beer.
The research concluded that it was probably the antioxidant compounds found in Guinness that were thinning the blood.
Similar antioxidant compounds are also found in some fruits and vegetables.
The researchers said the most benefit was noticed when a pint was consumed at meal times.
Historically, Guinness was used as a restorative, which is where the 1920s slogan came from.
In those days some English hospitals even gave Guinness to post-operative patients and blood donors because of its high iron content.
Incredibly, pregnant women and nursing mothers were also advised to drink the stout - something doctors certainly frown on now.
Guinness's current owner, international drinks giant Diageo, said it never made medical claims about its products and urged responsible drinking.