Guinness was a young Christian man who was once walking the streets of Ireland crying out to God, "God do something about the drunkenness on the streets of Ireland." Everyone was getting drunk on whiskey, there were whiskey houses, gin houses, etc. and his cry to God was do something about the alcoholism on the streets of Ireland and he felt God speak to him. In fact he felt God say this: "Make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them."

12/11/2003 Like chocolate and wine, the darker the beer, the better it may be for your heart, according to a new study. In a comparison of Guinness Stout, a dark beer, and Heineken, a light beer, the darker brew had substantially more anti-clotting activity, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist who presented his findings Tuesday at the American Heart Association annual meeting. Guinness proved to be about twice as effective at preventing the blood platelets from clumping and forming the kind of clot that can cause a heart attack, according to the study's main author, John Folts, a professor of medicine and nutritional director of the University of Wisconsin Coronary Thrombosis Research and Vascular Biology Laboratory. ...

... Question: Whose dietary and health interests are better served by the 12-ounce beer? If the guidelines are less alcohol, fewer calories, fewer carbohydrates and, to top it off, protection against heart attacks, blindness and maybe even impotence, then it's the Guinness drinker, hands down. ... Guinness, in fact, is lower in alcohol, calories and carbohydrates than Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Heineken and almost every other major-brand beer not classified as light or low-carb. It has fewer calories and carbohydrates than low-fat milk and orange juice, too. ... This tastes-great, more-filling formula defies nutritional expectations because Guinness is so low in alcohol, a source of empty calories. Guinness is 4.2 percent alcohol by volume, the same as Coors Light. Budweiser and Heineken check in at 5 percent. ... Brennan, like many cardiologists, recommends a drink a day for his cardiac patients. Red wine, in particular, has been shown to help prevent heart attacks. Now maybe it's beer's turn. A University of Wisconsin study last fall found that moderate consumption of Guinness worked like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the risk of heart attacks. In the study, Guinness proved twice as effective as Heineken at preventing blood clots. Guinness is loaded with flavonoids, antioxidants that give the dark color to many fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants are better than vitamins C and E, the study found, at keeping bad LDL cholesterol from clogging arteries. Blocked arteries also contributes to erectile dysfunction, as does overindulgence in alcohol. Guinness has a higher concentration than lighter beers of vitamin B, which lowers levels of homocysteine, linked to clogged arteries. And researchers have found that antioxidants from the moderate use of stout might reduce the incidence of cataracts by as much as 50 percent. It's milk's line, but beer gives you strong bones, too. "The reason, we think, is that beer is a major contributor to the diet of silicon," says Katherine Tucker, an associate professor of nutritional epidemiology at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Tucker recently participated in a study that showed beer, either dark or light, protects bone-mineral density because of its high levels of silicon, which allows the deposit of calcium and other minerals into bone tissue. ...

If you want to live a long and healthy life, walk briskly to the pub and knock back a low calorie, vitamin-rich beer. ... My mother was actually prescribed Guinness while she was nursing me sometime in the 1950s. Apparently it was common practice at the time. So, I was literally weaned on stout, which perhaps explains why the Irish sometimes refer to the black nectar as "mother's milk". "Guinness is good for you" was once the company's slogan before the authorities decided that while stout's nutritious, vitamin-packed qualities might sustain you, overindulgence in the alcoholic component probably wasn't so good for your well-being. We live in less enlightened times, it appears.