Short summary: Food scientists at the University of Singapore made a beer that uses a beneficial probiotic bacteria strain (Lactobacillus paracasei L26), which can survive in beer to impart digestion and immunity benefits to drinkers similar to probiotic yogurt. It is a 3.5% sour beer described as having a sharp, tart sour flavor. They have filed a patent and are looking for industry partners to work with. Read the full story on the University of Singapore website: http://news.nus.edu.sg/press-releases/novel-probiotic-beer-boosts-immunity Hey @Sixpoint I've encouraged you to apply your "mad science" to real science before... here's another opportunity! Also paging @Peter_Wolfe (the only actual beer scientist I am aware of here)
This was posted in the Homebrewing Forum yesterday. I do think that it's worth a little bit of discussion from a wider audience, though. They're basically trying to patent the making of a Berliner Weisse with a specific strain of Lactobacillus by saying that it has health benefits. The first flaw is that they'd have to demonstrate something unique about their process. Nothing about it, including the strain of lactobacillus used, looks unique. The second flaw, is that they need to perform a series of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to determine if they can make the claims regarding digestion and immunity. That would be even more doubtful than the first bit. However, more press for sour beer is always good, so there's that.
Health beers? Problem is that with low-purine or gluten-free, that the demand is so light that there are only a few on the market. Probiotic will be similarly limited. I'd give up beer before switching to a handful of styles/brands because of a health issue. I don't drink beer just to drink any old beer - I like specific ones. That would be like if you were a vegetarian and loved peppers and onions, but were told you can now only have beets, which you don't like.
And, one day years ago I was stomping through deep woods photographing mushrooms in a rainstorm, exhausted, very hungry, angling towards home, only to find some Activia Yogurt in the day before shopping fridge. I wolfed down two containers and settled back for a bit of a rest. Anyway, without too much detail, I've since had a dicey relationship with that product, Jamie Lee Curtis, and most probiotic products for their health claims. I really do like some Kombucha though. I can see it now: Singapore Sling Sour Ale; The Beer that Really Makes You Get Up and Go!
IMO probiotics are generally safe in most (not all people). They have been shown to reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated GI disorders and provide benefit in some other very specific conditions. However, there is little to no high-quality evidence that probiotics "boost immunity" in healthy individuals. Thanks, rant over.
The alternative health craze believes that when fasting your digestive system then fuels your Immune system. The state of ones colon is significant in this belief but like stated already hard evidence is not common. Many people have a harsh reaction to probiotics because they are already relatively healthy and don't need that much more. Too much of probiotics is not a fun experience
I was under the impression that all beers with lactobacillus were pretty healthy for the gut and digestion.
Not if probiotic supplementation has a profound effect on the immune system, as many claim. There are double-blind studies that look at whether people taking probiotics get colds at the same rate as a control group taking placebo. Or to save time and reduce number of subjects needed, researchers can directly administer rhinovirus, then see if there's a meaningful difference in infection rates/severity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3560336/
Not to get into an OT discussion, but that meta-analysis uses the word "marginal" and discusses some rather important limitations of the studies that were included. On top of that, taking probiotics is MUCH different than drinking a fermented beverage that is made with them.
It would certainly be awesome if this was the case, but most beneficial microbes in the gut aren't that hardy and aren't thrilled with alcohol and the residual sugars in beer doesn't help either.
Same. Actually I was under the impression all beers had some level of probiotic in general. I mean, if it weren't healthy flora in all beer, wouldn't it be detrimental?
I think we're in agreement. My point was just that a lot of good research has already been conducted. We can glean with reasonable confidence that ingesting probiotics has little or no immunity benefit for the general adult population.
