good or bad ??

[Santa Maria]

Why is it , we are told that Guinness is good for us, but to much beer or lager is bad ?? They are all alcoholic drinks, so why the difference ??

[scubadiver]

Guinness is relatively high in iron, especially compared to beer or lager and used to be given to post-operative patients in hospital, to aid recovery.

[tetherend]

Yep.  My Mum was told to drink it after the birth of my baby bro.  The midwife told my Dad to bring some in, as did the other new parents on the ward.

[maxi29]

Beer is not particularly bad for you. It's made of cereal and hops and contains plenty of essential vitamins and minerals including iron ; indeed there are some (highly optimistic) moves to classify it as a food and avoid VAT. There's also plenty of research to show that wine, especially red wine is also very healthy. And as scubadiver points out, Guinness is particularly rich in iron.

So any beer drunk in moderation is healthy - the key word is moderation. Of course, if drunk in excess, the alcohol content of beer (including Guinness) or wine will have a damaging effect on the liver.

Lager does not have the same health-giving properties - unless you're drinking German or Czech beer that conforms to the Reinheitsgebot laws. Most mass-produced lager contains a cocktail of chemicals that has little positive effect on the human system.

[tgon]

I agree with the answers posted already and think the beneficial quality equally applies to stouts (Murphys, Beamish, etc).

[fredo-cb]

two words

LIVER DISEASE

[marmaduke]

two words

LIVER FAILURE