Exactly What Kind of Impact Does Drinking Non-Alcoholic Drinks Have On Our Health?
Over the years, there has been an increase of breweries that create low to non alcoholic beverages. Names such as Carlton Zero, Bundaberg Ginger Beer, and Fronti Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Wine are up there with Jagerbombs and Tooheys.
These brands are creating these drinks due to several reasons. It is divided into two: preference and health benefits. They reflect how a vast majority of people see these beverages as a whole for their lives.
Why are Non-Alcoholic Drinks Trending?
The first reason various companies are making these drinks is due to customer preferences. Some of these reasons include the following:
- There are lots of varieties to fit your taste
Various drink companies are creating these products to appeal to their customers’ tastes. For example, Big Drop made “Stout” for those who like to enjoy beer and chocolate. Meanwhile, Mikkeller also made “Hallo ish Bin” for those who want a tart drink.
- Shifting preferences
Aside from the collective knowledge of the dangers of alcohol, purchasing them while in various pubs and restaurants is becoming a social norm. Many eating establishments such as restaurants, pubs, and night clubs also offer these options to guests to cater to a broader audience.
- Save money
Most countries have a tax on all alcoholic drinks. Recently, Australians got hit with a tax hike, and they have to pay $2.23 per liter for stubbies, cans, and longnecks. With that in mind, a person may reflect on their longer term choices to drink alcoholic drinks, and may be more inclined to purchase non-alcoholic drinks more.
- Support your local brewery
Due to the incoming increase in taxes, most companies are opting to create more non-alcoholic drinks to keep their businesses alive. With that in mind, customers are inclined to support them by drinking their non-alcoholic range.
Exactly What Kind of Impact Does Drinking Non-Alcoholic Drinks Leave on Our Health?
The previous section discussed that people are going for non-alcoholic drinks as it’s cheaper than their counterparts. Aside from the current drinking culture, there are several health reasons why they would drink them. They include:
1. Cutting Down on Alcohol Intake
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Opting for non-alcoholic drinks can help curb someone’s alcohol intake. This is because people drink them to take a break from drinking.
Aside from that, it also gives a person more variety of what they can drink aside from water or soft drinks. As a bonus, drinking them can help you produce the same dopamine and “reward” feeling as drinking beer or wine.
2. Containing Various Health-Boosting Nutrients
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As an added incentive, various drink companies opt to add nutrients in their drinks to convince people to choose them over alcohol. They include the following:
- Silicon – Ingesting this in alcohol-free beers can help keep your bones healthy. This is due to the mineral being present in grain and hops used to make it.
- Folic acid – Also known as vitamin B9, this vitamin helps with better blood circulation.
- Potassium – Aside from getting this by eating bananas every day, it can also be consumed through non-alcoholic drinks. It can help your body maintain its fluid levels, manage muscle contractions, and regulate nerve signals.
- Iron – This is the same mineral that can help your red blood cells to keep delivering oxygen throughout your body.
- Zinc – This is added in non-alcoholic drinks to help you avoid getting sick. It is absorbed in your nervous system and keeps it running smoothly.
- Niacin – A nutrient can help a person control their cholesterol levels and keep one’s brain functions active. It is also known as vitamin B3.
- Cobalamin – Aside from being known as vitamin B12, it can help a person produce more red blood cells.
- Sodium – It is also commonly known as salt. This ingredient in these types of drinks can help a person keep their fluid levels regular and regulate their central nervous system.
3. Use Them to Supplement a Person’s Low-Calorie Intake
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The average beer has around 4.5% alcohol in it, which can give you 56 calories. These don’t give you any nutritional value and are considered “empty” calories.
Swapping this with a drink with little to no alcohol can help you save as much as 146 empty calories per serving. Any person can drink this and not worry about ingesting the same calorie content as six teaspoons of sugar.
Take note that not all of these types of drinks will help you shed those extra calories. It depends on what ingredients are used and how the drink is made.
4. Avoiding Feeling the Effects of Getting Drunk
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Paired with keeping a person off alcohol, opting for a drink with little to no alcohol content can help avoid the morning hangover effects.
On average, a person can absorb as much as 0.28 units of alcohol in a pint of 0.5% beer in 17 minutes, give or take. If they drink a 3.6% beer pint, it will take the average person 2 hours to process this.
Given those numbers, that means that going for a night of alcohol-free drinks can help your body recover faster, avoid getting tired easily, prevent making poor decisions, and keep a person’s productivity higher the next day.
5. Keeping Organs Healthier Over Time
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Finally, getting the right kind of non-alcoholic drinks can help to keep your body stable.
An advantage of including these drinks in a diet is to help keep essential organs healthy. This gives a more significant incentive to those who drink it occasionally and convince beverage makers to make them.
For your heart, drinking non-alcoholic beer was found to be linked to preventing clogs in a person’s arteries, also known as thrombosis. Another study found that this type of beer had also contributed to avoiding getting plaque in arteries due to its phenols – a type of organic compound.
On the other hand, a study has found that the same phenols that prevent plaque in arteries can also keep a person away from the common cold. The study was done to marathon runners, analysing the effects when drinking it before and after a race. These studies prove that it can help keep the average person’s respiratory system healthy.
Conclusion
This article has shown that there is an increasing trend in drinking beverages with little to no alcohol content. There are several reasons as to why – from drinking preferences to diet restrictions.
It shows how various stakeholders in the beverage industry have adjusted to this change. This includes adding nutritious minerals in the drinks. Multiple studies have shown that drinking them occasionally can help keep one’s body in check.
With that in mind, it is seen as a trend that will stay, such as the various examples seen among non alcoholic beverages.