It's true -- Guinness IS good for you!

[rodc13]

I knew it!


BBC NEWS | Health | Guinness good for you - official

Guinness good for you - official

The long-running ad campaign is well-known
The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers.
A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.

Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.

Guinness were told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.
The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease.

They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager.

Heart trigger

Clotting is important for patients who are at risk of a heart attack because they have hardened arteries.

A heart attack is triggered when a clot lodges in one of these arteries supplying the heart.

Many patients are prescribed low-dose aspirin as this cuts the ability of the blood to form these dangerous clots.

The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes.

They believe that "antioxidant compounds" in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.

However, Diageo, the company that now manufactures Guinness, said: "We never make any medical claims for our drinks."

The company now runs advertisements that call for "responsible drinking".

A spokesman for Brewing Research International, which conducts research for the industry, said she would be "wary" of placing the health benefits of any alcohol brand above another.

She said: "We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients.

"It is possible that there is an extra effect due to the antioxidants in Guinness - but I would like to see this research repeated."

She said that reviving the old adverts for Guinness might be problematic - at least in the EU.

Draft legislation could outlaw any health claims in adverts for alcohol in Europe, she said.

Feelgood factor

The original campaign in the 1920s stemmed from market research - when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan was born.

In England, post-operative patients used to be given Guinness, as were blood donors, based on the belief that it was high in iron.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness - the present advice is against this.

The UK is still the largest market in the world for Guinness, although the drink does not feature in the UK's top ten beer brands according to the latest research.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rock and Glock]

Absolutely. Son lives in Boston. We've done a few Pub Crawls together there, focused on Guinness.

[HotGuns]

I had a pint of Guinness extra stout once sitting in an open court resturaunt on Texas Street in Singapore.

That was the foulest tasting stuff ever to sit in a pint mug. It looked like coal oil and the light wouldnt even shine through it.

I'ts an "aquired taste" I was told.

I never aquired it.

[mutumbo]

I had a pint of Guinness extra stout once sitting in an open court resturaunt on Texas Street in Singapore.

That was the foulest tasting stuff ever to sit in a pint mug. It looked like coal oil and the light wouldnt even shine through it.

I'ts an "aquired taste" I was told.

I never aquired it.

lol theres a BIG difference between extra stout and reg guninness. but yeah both are acquired tastes, lol :D

[RoadRunner71]

I've been saying that for years! lol

As far as the taste, you have to be careful of where you get it. If they only go through 1 or 2 barrels a year, I won't drink it. I think stout is a little more sensitive to age in an open keg. I can and does get kind of nasty if left too long.

[Dal1Celt]

I knew I was drinking that wonder brew for a good reason.

You know, if it wasn't for Guinness the Irish would have taken over the world centuries ago.

[wmhawth]

I had a pint of Guinness extra stout once sitting in an open court resturaunt on Texas Street in Singapore.

That was the foulest tasting stuff ever to sit in a pint mug. It looked like coal oil and the light wouldnt even shine through it.

I'ts an "aquired taste" I was told.

I never aquired it.

Hmmmm. Funny, I liked it from the get-go.

[boscobeans]

Guinness in any form has always been good to me...

Some of the most popular beers here in the States could not be labeled "beer" in some European countries.

bosco

[UnklFungus]

How do you make a case of American beer?

Take one Guinness, add water!

[Wolf357]

I had a pint of Guinness extra stout once sitting in an open court resturaunt on Texas Street in Singapore.

That was the foulest tasting stuff ever to sit in a pint mug. It looked like coal oil and the light wouldnt even shine through it.

I'ts an "aquired taste" I was told.

I never aquired it.

Neither have I. My body rejects any substance that tastes like cold coffee that's been left in the pot for several days... And, no, I don't like fresh coffee either.

[Patti]

Guinness is very good beer.

Chimay (Grand Reserve) is better.

[ccman]

Being from Ireland I had My share of The Black Stuff. When I gave blood every 3 months I would get a pint of Guinness from the nurse. They told pregnant Mothers to take a 1/2 pint a week for the iron content. If You are going to try it. Get it at a place that sells a lot of it.

[irish_ironsight]

Back home in Ireland Guinness is routinely available after you donate a pint of Blood, so it has to be good for you in some respect.

My chief regret is that guinness here in the USA just isn't the same as in Dublin, I have drank it in several countries and theres no place like Dublin Ireland for a good pint.

[rodc13]

A few of the old ads. Slainte!

[ccman]

irish ironsight. Dublin Ireland for a good pint.

If in Dublin take a tour of ST. James's Gate. The Guinness tour is a good one with a fresh pint of Guinness when You get to the top (Sky View Bar).