Beer is Life! Soul of hospitality written by wale ojo lanre

BEER! This four letter-word has remained with humanity since the evolution of modern society.

It is a name attached to a liquid caged in bottle or can with certain and less degree of alcohol which distinguished it from liquor and wine of higher grade of ethanol.

Beer is not only synonymous with entertainment but must be available anywhere there is celebration and excitement or where you want to create liveliness or spark the environment with memorable acts .

The absence of Beer at any occasion automatically makes that event uneventful and unmentioned.

For Beer, is it and must be it. And it has always been.

Thus to some, Beer is Life! Without beer, the world would have been in void and waste.

However as good as Beer is, majority of those who should patronise it do not do so.

Not that they don’t have the money or capacity to buy and sip a bottle in a day nor that they don’t buy for friends or during social gatherings,  but they will not or can not move near a jug of beer themselves  just because of the stigma, the stereotypes and miscomputation about beer attributes.

I am not a beer drinking person. I have not taken a pint of beer in my life not only because of the misconception or stigma, but just because that its alcoholic composition is too low!

But to others, they dislike beer just because they believe as being peddled that beer drinking is sinful; it is sugar based; it is buffeted with ethanol;  it is unhealthy; it fattens; it causes belly; it deadens brains; it is not good for old age; it stimulates anti – social behaviour; it affects sexual performance and many other sundry unfounded  reasons.

Thus they allowed themselves to be swept away with the fallacy of generalisation without having to think critically about the veracity of these claims.

Hence some of us deadly believe in these beer stigmas. We agreed hook, line and sinker with the stereotypes and embrace the misconception about beer with a big hug.

And poor enough the major beer producers in the world have not been proactive enough to enlighten the public and expose to the world comprehensive overview of Beer as an integral part of living healthy and an essential article of hospitality and tourism.

However, the wool of ignorance was swept off my face between April 27 and 30 at a four - day retreat organised under the Bloggers Beer Academy by Nigerian Breweries in Ibadan, Oyo State, a eye and mental stoking retreat where I realised that most of all these stigma and stereotyping about beer are not but a bundle of misconception and grand exercise in ignorance.

The first shock treatment was  a vivid pictorial reports of the most successful men ever in the world bowing down for jug of beer, starting from the philosophers of yore whose postulations are the surviving ingredients and pillars that hold the world, Cicero said about Beer “A wise man invented the Beer”. Alexandria Armstrong “Beer: The best chemistry ever created”. Jack Nicholson   ‘Beer is the best damn drink in the world “While world leaders like Presidents  Barrack  Obama, USA, David Cameron, Britain French Prime Minister Francois Fillon,  and even  my own spiritual guardian  on earth Pope Benedict  are lovers of beer.

Professor, ‘Tola Atinmo, Professor of Human Nutrition, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan did a brilliant expose on the health contribution of beer to the body.

Making reference to Rusell Crowe “I have respect for beer.” Prof Atinmo listed some of the benefits of drinking beer with emphasis on moderation.

He revealed “this presentation is not about recommending beer as a healthy drink, but to showcase the associated nutritional benefits of beer from the perspective of findings from evidence-based scientific researches.”

Professor Atinmo pointed out “Nutrition is all about eating and drinking appropriately for good health and wellness.” He captured the relationship between beer and health with a quotation by Paracelsus, a German physician of the 16th century “Whether wine (or beer) is a nourishment, medicine or poison it is a matter of dosage.”

He gave the ingredients of making beer to include Water, malted barley, hops, yeast and corn as some of the ingredients used to brew beer.

Hops add spicy aroma and bitter flavours, yeast changes sugars into alcohol,

Corn and other adjuncts give beer a milder and lighter-bodied flavour.

He revealed the nutrient components of beer which are needed by the body.

Beer has nourished and comforted homo sapiens for millenniums in a safe manner and has been part of the daily food intake. Many people are not aware that drinking beer actually benefits their health.

He listed the health benefits of beer as follows.

Beer is one of the best sources of silicon in diet. New researches suggest silicon is important for the formation of strong bone mineral density.

Beer contains folic acid which offers some protection against coronary heart-diseases through homocysteine.

Antioxidants for protection against many forms of cancer.

Healthy hydration -92 per cent of beer is water (can count as part of the recommended eight glasses of water per day, but should not be a substitute for water)

Stress relief

Sexual health

Lactation

Old age cognitive health

Helps with kidney stones, dementia, osteoporosis etc.

 Prof Atinmo with research evidence showed that beer causes no pot belly neither does it lead to obesity but” Beerbelly’is caused by too many calories in an individual’s diet (from over-eating, sugary food and beverages etc) and a sedentary lifestyle.

More calories are ingested than what is burned. The excess is stored in the body as fat. Fat is stored more in the  belly by  men, hence the prevalence  of‘ “beerbelly” in them.

Concerning pregnant women, Prof Atinmo said it is not advisable for pregnant women to indulge in drinking beer and during breast feeding, but there is nothing harmful for ladies or women to drink beer.

He also listed the disadvantages of drinking beer beyond moderation.

“Everything about drinking beer is about moderation which applies to all things. The WHO recommends the maximum intake of beer in a day and if you stay within the level of moderation the disadvantages might not be yours.”

Ben Anozie, a retired Beer Manager of 35 years of experience took us through the history, origin and preparation of beer.

It was from him that we learnt at the brewery that apart from the fact that 90 per cent of beer contains water everything used for making beer is natural.

Also, one realised that the matter of sugar content of beer is nothing, but a farce, for there is no sugar concentration in the preparation of beer and no ethanol introduced.

Since water is life and 90 per cent of beer is water, beer is thus life.  And going by the fact that world philosophers endorsed it, embraced by presidents, religious leaders, achievers and men and women of great achievements with evidence of having no harm to the body if taken within the limit of moderation, Beer is good for you.

Away with stigma which prevents one from enjoying the benefit of good beer. Down with the anti – social stereotypes of old which have excluded one from tapping the socio - networking of cool, cool beer  and put a stop to the misconception about its consumption and embrace sipping beer moderately to replenish  your brains and look great!

Beer is Life, live it !