Dark Beer: Good News For Us...and Dogs!

John D. Folts, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the coronary thrombosis research laboratory at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, reports that dark beer is rich in flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants. Ie. good for the heart! "It's about color. The rich flavonoid content makes red wine more heart friendly than white wine and purple grape juice a better choice for toddlers than white grape juice," he says. Folts presented his dark beer-light beer study at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2003. Folts and his colleagues fed dark and light beer to dogs that had narrowed arteries in their hearts, similar to the narrowing observed in people with heart disease. Only dogs fed dark beer had less stickiness of their blood clotting cells, says Folts. This was true even though the blood alcohol level in the dogs was the same. Thankfully, he is currently conducting similar tests in humans. In that study, volunteers drink two bottles of either light or dark beer a day. Early indications are that dark beer again is more active at fighting blood clots than light beer, he says