Nursing mothers who drink alcohol-free beer every day, producing more milk than others, according to research.
The survey was made among 60 nursing mothers in Spain. The women were divided into two equal groups. Women in one group drank 660 ml. alcohol-free beer every day, while the other remained completely away from brewing.
- Breast milk is for those who drank alcohol-free beer contained more nutrients and antioxidants of higher quality, said the director of the project, the Spanish pediatrician Maria Teresa Aguilar during a helsekonferanse of beer in Brussels recently.
She is breastfeeding as a subject area and work for UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
- The level of antioxidants were also measured in maternal blood and urine, and in babies' urine. This was done three times, just after birth, after 15 days, and after 30 days. It was generally better results for everyone who had been directly or indirectly exposed to alcohol-free beer, says Aguilar.
Common in Spain
In Spain there are a number of years researching the health benefits of drinking alcohol-free beer, especially for nursing mothers. This knowledge has few other places in the world.
- Here in the country this has become a common drink among mothers, because they now know that it provides a health benefit. Antioxidants are found naturally in beer comes from malted barley and hops.
Antioxidants in beer is rapidly absorbed, faster than the food.
Beer without alcohol has a high content of B vitamins, folate and silicon, nutrients that are important for mothers and babies.
- Folate is essential for the embryo to develop normally during pregnancy, and it is recommended today that pregnant women take supplements of folic acid. Silicon is essential for normal growth of bones.
Alcohol-free beer is making a healthy drink even before birth and during pregnancy, she says. Previous studies have also shown that alcohol-free beer can increase the amount of milk a lactating mother produces.
Avoid alcohol
Beer with alcohol and other alcoholic drinks, women should stay away from the early days of breastfeeding, because, among other things can affect the child's motor development.
- It is important that mothers breastfeed, rather than to provide breast milk substitute. Breast milk contains important nutrients, and particularly antioxidants that can combat the adverse levels of free radicals, among other things, can lead to cancer later in life, says pediatrician and researcher in breast milk, Maria Teresa Aguilar.
Conference on beer and health in Brussels was organized by The Brewers of Europe.
Contact:
Senior Adviser Simon Spillane, The Brewers of Europe, phone: 00 32 25 51 18 10 (Brussels), email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , website: www.brewersofeurope.org . He sweetens contact with the speakers at the conference in Brussels.
