There May Be One Benefit to Drinking a Beer Every Day, Science Says

We all know by now that drinking alcohol in moderation and maintaining a well-rounded diet is key to any healthy lifestyle.

But now, a new study indicates that drinking one alcoholic beverage every day, in particular, may help in keeping your gut flora healthy: beer.

In the study, which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers had healthy men drink around 12 ounces of alcoholic or nonalcoholic lager beer daily for four weeks.

At the end of the study, 22 men had greater bacterial diversity in their gut microbiome and better markers of intestinal health than they did before the study began.

"Nonalcoholic and alcoholic beer increased gut microbiota diversity, which has been associated with positive health outcomes," researchers said in the study. "These results suggest the effects of beer on gut microbiota modulation are independent of alcohol and may be mediated by beer polyphenols."

Better yet, researchers also said that a single daily beer did not appear to increase body weight or body fat mass.

Although the study itself was small, its findings can set precedent for further research in the area of alcohol's effects on one's health.

While the results of this study reign promising for beer lovers, it's important to remember that regular beer drinking can sometimes cause irritation to your digestive system as a whole.

"Drinking beer can make your stomach produce more acid than usual, which can turn into inflammation of the gut lining. This can have long-term side effects like gastritis," nutritionist Katie Boyd, MS, previously told Eat This, Not That!. "They don't call it a 'beer belly' for nothing."

To learn more about how beer affects your body, check out What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Beer Every Night.