Dear Pharmacist Suzy Cohen



Dear Pharmacist: My British friend drinks beer every night. He thinks it reduces his risk of heart disease. Here in the United States, alcohol consumption is discouraged. What do you think? -- C.P., Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Dear C.P.: Beer is not an adjunct to better health. Your friend probably heard about a 2000 study conducted by the TNO Nutrition and Food Institute in the Netherlands, which suggests that drinking a pint of beer a day might have a positive effect on your heart.

The Dutch researchers found that beer caused a 30 percent increase in the amount of vitamin B6 your body makes. This vitamin (also called pyridoxine) reduces homocysteine. It's good to keep homocysteine levels in check, since high amounts of it are tied to heart attack, stroke, blood clots, depression, and autoimmune and brain disorders.

While beer might increase your vitamin B6, it will definitely reduce your wits and your lifespan, too, or someone else's, if you get behind the wheel after drinking.

For the record, beer is also rich in other B vitamins, including thiamine, niacin, folic acid and riboflavin. But it's ludicrous to suppose that beer provides the body with any nutritional sustenance. While a handful of study participants showed marginal increases in their B6 level from beer, the alcohol in it also: destroys cells in the liver and stomach; spawns dangerous free-radicals, which cause cancer; and reduces such critical nutrients in the body as zinc, copper, iron, vitamin C ... and the B vitamins.

Say what? Yes, I said B vitamins. Even though beer contains some B vitamins, the toxin strips the integrity of your gut and attacks your liver, making it harder for you ultimately to absorb vital nutrients. The net value is nutritional loss, not gain.

If you want better heart health, try eating better food, exercising (if tolerated) and taking dietary supplements known to support your ticker. Remember, you get more benefit -- and less belly -- from the following supplements than you do from a can of beer: omega-3 fish oils, B vitamins, L-carnitine, taurine, and antioxidants like E, C, D, beta-carotene and Coenzyme Q10.


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