The Surprising New Beer Trend That’s Good for Your Waistline
The Fourth of July is the biggest beer drinking holiday of the year - and while it tastes great on a hot summer day, it also has a heap of health benefits that everyone can raise their glass to. With the help of food scientist and dietician Dr. Joy Dubost, we’re toasting to the red, white…and brew, and revealing the next big trend in beer that’s actually good for your waistline! Plus, the science behind the food pairings that will create taste bud fireworks in your mouth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Does the color of the beer offer any additional health benefits?
It can vary.
In general, beer can provide B vitamins, like even folic acid.
One unique thing is it provides silicon.
It's supportive of your bones.
So there's been studies to look at how, if you're a regular beer drinker, it can help increase bone formation and make your bones stronger.
Bone beer.
Right?
Yeah, there you go.
Hey, everyone. everyone.
I'm Dr. Oz, and this is the Dr. Oz Podcast.
Yes.
The 4th of July is the biggest beer drinking holiday of the year.
And while it tastes great on a hot summer day, it has a heap of health benefits that I can raise my glass to as well.
So today we're toasting to the red, white, and brew.
And revealing the next big trend in beer that's actually good for your waistline.
Plus the science behind the food pairings that will create taste bud fireworks in your mouth.
Joining us now to break it all down is food scientist, dietician, and former director of science and external affairs for the Beer Institute, Joy Dubose.
I love having you on the show, in part because I get to drink beer with you, Joy.
Thanks for being here.
Absolutely.
Thank you.
So, most of us see beer as a guilty pleasure.
And by the way, let me just toast you here.
Yes.
Cheers.
Cheers.
We have our favorite beer.
I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I like it too.
And a lot of these beers are thought of as hedonistic drivers, right?
I'm going to kick back and have a beer.
But you've dedicated your life to understanding beer at a whole different level.
And you want to change the association we have with beer with hedonism and understand the fact that it could be pretty healthy for you in many ways.
Yes, absolutely.
And there's science to back that up, obviously, in moderation.
But, you know, beer has been around a very long time, all the way back to the Sumerian and Egyptian days.
So it's nothing new.
It's just that here in the U.S., it's really boomed onto the scene with craft breweries.
There's over 5,000 of them now here in the U.S. So just take me back 10,000 years.
What do you think led to the first beer?
What went wrong with a process that left people with beer and they realized, oh my goodness, it's not so bad?
Well, you've probably heard that beer is liquid bread, and it actually, that's really where it started.
The fermentation process and making bread, the liquid that was left over from that process of making bread actually, as we call it, wort, was wort, and then it naturally fermented with the aerobes in the air and the microorganisms that are existing currently in the air, and it naturally fermented and produced beer as we know it today.
And I guess Northern Europeans knew that the beer was potable, was drinkable, because it had fermented, right?
It kills off all the bad bacteria.
Yeah, so that's another excellent point for safety reasons.
You know, clean water wasn't accessible like it is here today.
Yeah.
Beer was safe because of the alcohol content.
So a lot of times people would drink a fermented beverage like a beer because of the safety reasons because alcohol does kill the microbes in it.
Correct.
So you mentioned moderation early on.
What does moderation actually mean?
Yes.
And don't be a downer here now.
And if you don't mind, compare men and women, etc.
Sure.
So basically, it's defined within the U.S. dietary guidelines.
And that was published in 2015. And what that shows is that up to two drinks per day for men and up to one drink per day for a woman.
So what is a drink?
What does that mean?
So in the case of beer...
How many bottles is a drink?
Yeah.
So in the case of beer, it's a 12-ounce bottle at about 5% alcohol or alcohol by volume would be equivalent to one drink.
Alright, now you've traveled the world.
You were in Germany recently.
Yeah, last week.
So, what is it you know about beer that we don't know about beer?
What do the Germans know about good beer that we don't seem to get here?
Well, you know, I had some of the best beer there, I have to say.
They had what's called, and it was actually started in 1512, and it's the German Purity Law.
And what that meant is that, and it's still in existence today, and some brewers there find it a little restricting, but they had to really keep it to four basic ingredients.
Which is malted barley, hops, water, and yeast.
What's the wort?
So the wort is actually when you take the barley and you steep it, it becomes malted, and then it becomes that liquid...
You know, looking liquid that is like from the grain and that's what's considered wort.
Okay, but it's from the barley.
It's fermented barley, yes, malted barley.
Yep.
So basically the German purity law restricts them to always keeping within those four ingredients and not adding other flavoring agents or what we call adjuncts or anything.
It has to be within those four ingredients.
Basic ingredients of beer.
And mind you, those recipes have been around a very long time and have been well protected.
What makes a beer taste good versus not so good?
What are the classic mistakes that are made that gives you something that's not so tasty?
I would say, I mean, there's different areas of the beer-making process that can lend to off-flavored notes.
So some of that's from the production side.
I will say also from a consumer perspective, you have to take care of your beer, especially during the hot summer months.
So you don't want to have your beer being exposed to high heat.
That will what we call oxidize it, so you'll get off notes.
You don't want to have it directly in the sunlight.
So honestly, like drinking beer out of a can or even...
In a brown bottle such as this does protect it somewhat from the sunlight because the sunlight will produce off notes as well.
So temperature fluctuations, light, as well as, you know, if it's, unfortunately, if it's being shaken around during delivery on a truck, that can disturb the flavor notes and produce off flavors.
So some of this we have to, frankly, baby our beer to make sure that it's the highest quality possible.
There are thousands of different microbreweries.
There's thousands of different ways of creating those notes that you speak of to titillate us.
So if you don't mind, give me the basic primer of the different kinds of beer.
And how, on the show you've taught me a little bit about how we make mistakes about expectations of calories in beers.
So basically, beer has just taken on a life of its own, and there's a lot of deviations now from what we call the traditional styles of beer.
Because of all the creativity that's gone within the industry, I mean, really, brewers at the end of the day are like chefs.
They want to create, and they want to create unique flavors and notes that you just don't normally expect from a beer.
But to break it down in the most simplistic manner, there's an ale and there's a lager, and that depends on the type of yeast that's used as well as how it's actually brewed in the process.
And so basically traditional lagers are produced at a colder temperature.
Lager means it's stored, it's a bottom fermenting yeast, and you keep it at a cooler temperature.
Where ales are really traditionally more at a warmer temperature and the fermentation process, the yeast you can actually see rise to the top.
Those are your two basic types of beer.
From there, you get all the different variations.
Particularly from a visual standpoint, you'll get different colors.
You'll get very golden light colors all the way to the darker colors.
In each one?
In each one.
And it can depend on whether it's an ale or a lager, yeah.
So back to ale or lager for one second.
The alcohol content?
The alcohol content can vary, absolutely.
And that's based on how much fermentable sugars are there.
And that comes from the grains.
But is the ale or the lager higher alcohol?
There, the range can vary.
Again, you know, the average ABV, or alcohol by volume, that's consumed here in the U.S. is actually on the low side at 4.6% ABV. Now, we had talked about what a drink is.
That's by a 5% ABV.
So, and actually the top three or four selling beers are light beers, which are about 4.2%.
And those are all lagers.
So it really can vary.
So I would say, you know, check the bottle, see and ask your server what that alcohol content can be.
Yeah, but can you tell if it's an ale or a lager just by tasting it?
No, not necessarily.
Because of all the variations.
Back in the day, yes.
When someone says you want a lager and ale, it doesn't matter.
I mean, there are other things besides that that will create the notes that you might enjoy.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And that goes into the ingredients that use, the malting process of the grains.
So if you think of like a stout or a porter, they're darker, richer flavors.
That all comes through roasting of the malt.
And you'll get those coffee notes, those caramel notes, you know, those almost burnt flavors.
Yeah, that comes through taking that grain and roasting it for a specific period of time under different temperature conditions.
Then you kill the yeast then?
No, this happens before you pitch.
We call pitch the yeast.
So this happens before that process.
The yeast is the very last part that gets added and then fermented.
Although you can add hops in at the last minute.
And I'm going to go back and revisit this all because I'm making sure everyone's at home is on the same page with us.
But is a porter or a stout a lager or an ale?
Ale.
Those are traditionally known as more of the ale styles, correct?
We have a lot more to talk about, but first, let's take a quick break.
Take us all the way back to the beginning for just one second just to catch us up here.
Maybe this is because I've already had a bottle of beer during this interview, but I want to make sure that I'm clear.
You have four basic ingredients like the Germans have in their purity law.
Yes.
How do you actually make them into a beer?
What's the process and how long does it take?
It can take weeks, depending on how long you want to ferment it.
And sometimes they'll go through what's called double fermentation, where you'll ferment it once, take that yeast, and pitch it again.
Single fermentation, how do you actually do it?
You take the barley.
You take the barley, you add the water, you boil.
You've got your, what we call that wort.
From there, you cool it down and you filter it, because you've got other ingredients in there.
You know, if you think of the barley, you've got things there that they help to filter that out, like the husk.
So you take that, you filter it out, and from there you cool it down.
And then you can either add in some of the hops that we were talking about that add those bittering notes.
If they're within that wort for an extended period of time, you'll get more of that bitter type of flavors, some of the citrusy notes that you will tend to get in an Indian pale ale or an IPA.
From there, at the very end of the process, once it's cooled down, you pitch what we call pitch the yeast.
You put the yeast in.
That fermentation process can take, depending on the type of yeast and the temperature conditions, several weeks, sometimes even shorter.
Some of the larger brewers have got this down to a very unique science, and they can quickly get it done.
And then from there, you clarify the beer, and you can pasteurize it in bottles.
Clarifying is just what we call the bright beer, so that you're making it more of a clear.
Sometimes you'll pour beer and you'll notice the hazy notes.
Those are actually proteins that are there, and sometimes those embed more of a flavor.
But sometimes you also want more like a lager.
If you think of a lager, it's more clear.
That's more the filtering process.
And the Indian Pale Ale, which I would call IPAs.
Yeah, everybody calls it.
So what do they do again that makes it different?
So those, they use different types.
The beauty of those beers are they use different types of hops.
And hops are just, you know, they're grown on a vine.
And they basically impart different notes like citrusy notes, more floral notes, and definitely the bitter notes.
Now, beers aren't regulated, right?
No, they're regulated by the Alcohol and Tax Trade Bureau.
I'm sure I meant the calorie content and the nutritional value of the beers.
They're not regulated.
So TTB does not require, so they're not regulated under the Food and Drug Administration.
They're regulated under the Alcohol and Tax Trade Bureau.
They do not require brewers to list calories or ingredient information on their label.
Which is why you're so important, because I rely on you to teach me, since I don't have it otherwise.
Exactly.
What's in every beer I drink?
Out of curiosity, why wouldn't we add that at some point?
Why wouldn't they just go ahead and put the carbohydrate, there's no fat in it, but protein, whatever, other nutrient criteria?
Yeah, so TTB did actually release...
TTB stands for...
Alcohol and Tax Trade Bureau.
So that's the agency in Washington, D.C. that regulates the beer industry, and all brewers have to register with them.
They put out a voluntary standard that you could do this as a brewer.
I will tell you, two years ago, the four major brewers in this country came together and did make a voluntary commitment to start adding it to the labels, both calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates, as well as the ingredients.
They're to have this completed, which, by the way, they own about 90% of the market share, by 2020. So you will start to see, in fact, the beer we're drinking now, you will start to see that they'll have the serving facts, that we'll have the nutrition information.
Yes, that's right.
Yep.
As well as you can, you know, a lot of them also post much of this online.
So yeah, it is starting...
I noticed your favorite beer is a 5.4% alcohol.
Yes, and it will have the alcohol by volume.
Is that why?
Because you like the high alcohol?
No.
Be honest.
No, I just like the flavor.
I love the flavor of this beer.
So, yeah, you will start to see this coming about on many of the beers that you're consuming.
And hopefully this will create a bigger movement that everybody would join in and start providing this information.
Right, so this is 168 calories, which is, I think, pretty good.
I would have hoped to have been in that range.
You taught me, when you were on the show last time, it's changed my drinking behavior.
You told me that my Guinness Stout that I love...
Actually, it did not have as many calories as I feared it had.
And that the light beers I was drinking, you weren't big fans of because you said that it's not as nutriently dense as regular beers.
So I would appreciate hearing it one more time, but I also want people at home to understand it.
Yeah, sure.
So I think sometimes obviously we're visual and we look at the beers and we think the darker in color is going to provide more calories and it's going to be more intense and that sort of thing.
That's not always the case.
That's what's so fun about beer.
So, you know, light beers provide on average about 95 calories, whereas I was saying, you know, 5% ABV is about 100 calories.
And 50 calories.
So as we're drinking this, it's a little higher than that.
So it's really, to me, you know, drinking a beer is, you know, for many folks, like they love to drink wine and get the flavors and really enjoy it.
And that's where I feel beer is wonderful and it doesn't always get the glory of that.
It's really a flavor experience and really taking it all in.
And sometimes with light beers, you don't get that flavor impact, that quality that you may get.
You know, so people tend to drink two light beers, you know, to get that, whereas they could have just had one good full-flavored beer and you're saving calories in the end.
How many calories are the stout?
And a style, again, that can vary based on the alcohol.
Basically, the alcohol content, the higher the ABV, the higher the alcohol, it drives up the calories.
So, in some of the beers, like you were mentioning with Guinness, you can get down to 140 and can go up to 200. It really just depends on the alcohol.
So, if I'm trading off a 140-calorie beer that has that kind of just body to it, I'll use that phrase.
I'm not sure it's one that you do.
That's the right language.
Absolutely.
Compared to a light beer, there's no comparison.
Exactly.
Exactly.
The extra 50 calories is three teaspoons under my coffee of sugar.
Absolutely.
So it's really what you want to enjoy.
Some people like the light beer, and that's fine.
That's great.
But just keep in mind that if you're going to consume more of those light beers, you might just want to go with a more fuller, denser flavored beer.
So let's deal with the comment you made earlier about beer being just like liquid bread.
Mm-hmm.
The phrase beer belly, which connotes a large momentum fat pad, which we know is associated with diabetes and hypertension and high cholesterol, you know, it would be stimulated by eating a lot of liquid calories coming from carbohydrates every day.
So, your response, your defense of a beverage you love so much.
It's a misnomer because beer, there's nothing special in beer that's going to automatically add adipose or fat right onto your belly.
Frankly, a wine or a spirit...
It's all about those calories.
Unfortunately, the misnomer and this idea that it gives you a beer belly and that beer associated with a fatter belly is just not true.
Actually, there's science to show that as well.
It's really about balancing your calories.
Whether you're consuming any type of alcohol, whether through wine, spirits, or beer, you really need to balance it with the rest of your diet.
So what's the latest trend in beer that actually might address a desire for the average person not to get a big belly?
I would say that there's some research coming out, and we had talked about this before, that it shows that beer drinkers are actually more active and physically fit, which, again, is a misnomer.
You wouldn't think that.
But there's research to indicate that.
And I think that that's because, you know, you think about people who run marathons.
At the end, they want a beer, right?
They want a cold beer.
It's a social aspect.
There's a social drinking aspect here.
That's what I think about alcohol in general.
I mean, for wine, which I also like, I like beer and wine, I like alcohol in general.
I don't drink very much.
Especially when I'm taping my shows, I go for a week and not have a single beverage.
But I like alcohol because it means I'm going to be with people.
I almost never drink alcohol.
Not almost.
I never drink alone.
I won't sit back at home and get, you know, let me have a scotch.
I always do with folks, and I think the health benefit of alcohol in general seems to be from that.
And I'll tell you why I think it's that way.
If I have, if I look at the data, On alcohol, it's hard to identify when people drink, but I suspect that having a beer by yourself in the morning on your cereal probably doesn't work quite as well as having it with friends after work.
That's right.
Absolutely.
And so keeping that in mind and the need for us to be social with each other, that's why when I was asking you about alcohol and why we created it, I bet you the first guy who made that mistake and fermented his barley thought, you know what?
I feel really good.
You feel good too, Joe.
Let's hang together.
Yeah.
We'll have a little barley after work every day.
So, it sort of gave rise to the fact that it pulls us together.
I don't know if there's data around that, though.
Well, there's been, I guess, not direct link, but a stretch to say, for instance, like the athletic part, that after events, people who are drinking beer tend to be more active.
So, they've drawn the conclusion that it's more social, but not directly.
They get more rowdy.
I'm an Eagles fan.
I am, too.
Oh, you are?
Yeah, go Eagles!
Go, birds go.
I didn't know that.
Yeah.
Where are you from?
Well, I grew up in the Philly area when I was younger.
So, yeah.
So, I think that's my influence.
Now that I'm thinking about it, it makes sense.
So, with the Eagles in the fourth quarter of the game, they won't serve beer anymore.
Because we're already rowdy as it is.
Rowdy and up, right.
I should have known because you're a beer fan, I think.
Of course you're an Eagles fan.
But in the fourth quarter, they won't give you beer.
Because they greased the football goalposts so that the fans won't climb.
We still climb it.
But at least with no beer in the fourth quarter, it's beginning to wear off.
Coming up, Joy reveals the best beer pairings for your favorite foods.
Does the health benefit of wine mimic that of beer, do you think?
Absolutely, and that's the other thing.
So if you really look at the data, you know, wine gets a lot of glory because of the one antioxidant it contains called resveratrol.
But actually, you would have to drink yourself almost into toxicity to get the benefits of that resveratrol.
Beer, actually, from a nutrition standpoint, is very unique.
However, if you really look at the data, it's really about the ethanol that's providing that health benefit, not the resveratrol.
It's really the ethanol, again, in moderation, that has been shown to really actually ward off cardiovascular disease.
Now, I'm not encouraging anybody who doesn't drink to drink to get that benefit, but just know that if you want to have a beer instead of that wine from a health benefit, you're still going to get that.
Since you brought up the resveratrol, which is, I agree with you, it's less than 10% of the benefit.
Does the color of the beer offer any additional health benefits?
It's a great question.
It can vary.
And some of that is because, again, of the production of the beer.
So, you know, the darker beers may have a little more B vitamins in them.
However, lighter beer, colored beers can as well.
So it really depends.
But just...
I would say, in general, beer can provide B vitamins, like even folic acid.
It can provide selenium.
And a lot of this is coming through the grains, or the malted barley, as we talked about.
One unique thing is it provides silicon, which actually could be the number one source, beer can, in the diet.
And you think, well, what is that?
Well, it's actually supportive of your bones.
So there's been studies to look at how...
If you're a regular beer drinker, it can help increase bone formation and make your bones stronger.
Bone beer!
Right?
Yeah, there you go.
Bone broth, bone beer.
Yeah, bone beer.
Of course.
And then there's unique antioxidants that are coming in through the malt as well as the hops.
So it really is a very unique nutrition package.
How about that phrase, you know, crack open a cold one?
Are we drinking beer at the right temperature?
Because when it's really cold, I don't actually taste those notes you speak to.
Absolutely.
So it's a great point.
So if it's too cold, it can actually impede the flavor notes that you're talking about, and you don't get that as much.
So, you know, traditionally, like I was talking about, you know, the lagers are served more at a colder temperature.
So you want to keep it between about 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
And with ales, it's usually 45 to 55. That's warmer than most of us drink it.
Yeah.
So there are some beers that, if you notice, the way that they've actually made them, they...
Hold them in basically barrels like wine.
And so those type of beers can be served at more of a room temperature.
So it really can depend on the style of beer as far as the temperature.
But I will tell you this, if you can and you're in a restaurant, again, not out in the sunlight because if the beer is exposed, it can create off notes.
But really enjoy your beer in a glass.
It's almost like the fine art of wine where there's different glassware that you can use.
Beer is the same thing.
You want to get those volatiles or those aromas because that whole sensory experience really drives the flavor through.
So pour your beer in a glass.
See, I always was fearful that I'd lose the carbonation.
I like the tickling of the beer on my tongue.
Yeah, no, that makes sense.
You want to You want to pour it correctly.
Teach people that, please.
That drives me crazy.
They pour the huge head.
It's a huge head.
Yeah, you want to angle your glass at the right, like a 45, and slowly bring the beer down the side of the glass.
And then as you're pouring, move the glass more vertical.
And that will help decrease the head formation.
You basically want about a one-inch head formation on that beer.
But pour it in the glass is my point.
And here's the other tip.
A lot of us like the frosty mugs.
That's actually probably a no-no with beer because what it does is it increases foam.
So again, it impedes on the flavor and you also can get off notes coming in through some of that ice that's on that glass.
So I would stay away from the frosty mugs, but definitely pour it in a chilled or regular glass.
And a lot of folks think of beer for pretzels and peanuts and the like, but it's actually being used as a way of enhancing the flavor of a lot of the cuisines.
So for example, if you're having barbecue, what kind of beer should we have?
So, I guess you could say that with beer, it is becoming a fine art with the pairings, which is really exciting from a culinary standpoint.
So, really what you want to think about is two things.
You want to match the flavor of the food with the beer, or you can take a different route and contrast it.
And what I mean by that is contrasting the flavors.
So, if you have something that's spicy, like a barbecue, you could potentially pair it with something sweet.
But I personally like something that's more matching.
So I like the IPAs because of the citrusy, you know, a little bit of bitter note that pairs well with a barbecue to kind of cut through some of that.
So it really can depend on what kind of food, but think of either matching the flavors of the food in the beer or taking a completely different route and contrasting them.
And if you're going to meditate, what kind of beer should you have?
Come on, Joy.
Come on, Joy.
I've never had that question.
You're the expert.
I would say a lighter beer, and I would say a Hefeweizen, but that's probably because I'm partial to those type of beers.
Give me your five favorite beers.
You can name Brent's.
Oh man.
I'm not going to name brands.
I would say Styles.
And it would definitely be a Hefeweizen.
It's actually similar to what we're drinking now.
Hefeweizen is like a Belgian?
It's like a Belgian style beer.
And back to the Belgian style or German style, I love Dunkels, which are more the darker roasted.
But it's not as heavy.
It's very surprising.
Called Dunkels?
Dunkels, yeah.
I like the name.
Yeah, right?
It's a fun name.
I would also say, I'm not more of a fruit-flavored beer, but I would say to, you know, a lot of women don't want to drink beer for whatever reason.
They stick with their wines.
Fruit-flavored beers are great to try to kind of bring you into the beer category.
One thing I will say also that's coming out that's starting to trend more is this mix between a beer and a wine, which I find very unique.
I've never seen that.
Yeah, well, it's starting to hit the market, so be on the lookout for that.
I find them very interesting as well.
They add vodka to it as well.
That's a whole different category.
Yeah, I haven't seen that.
Yeah, I'm sure that's out there too.
That's great.
Go to a 12-step program.
Yeah.
And then, you know, I like a traditional lager.
Like with barbecue, you're mentioning, like if you don't know what beer to drink, those traditional lagers are just clean, crisp, almost like a pilsner or two.
