An old “last word” column in New Scientist looks at Life in a Glass:
How long can a human being live for if their sole source of food or drink is beer? And do different beers — ale, lager, stout, mild — confer a better chance of survival?Beer has had a reputation since antiquity as being a staple in the diet, often called “liquid bread”. In ancient Egypt, workers received beer as part of their salary, as did the ladies-in-waiting of Queen Elizabeth I of England. In 1492, one gallon of beer per day was the standard allocation for sailors in the navy of Henry VII.
This high reputation for beer came about because it was made from malted barley, which is rich in vitamins. This is still true today. A quick check using nutritional tables shows that a pint can provide more than 5 per cent of the daily recommended intake of several vitamins, such as B9, B6 and B2, although other vitamins such as A, C and D are lacking.
It is of course unethical to conduct an experiment to see whether one can live on beer alone. However, during the Seven Years War of 1756-63, John Clephane, physician to the English fleet, conducted a clinical trial. Three ships were sent from England to America. One — the Grampus — was supplied with plenty of beer, while the two control ships — the Daedalus and the Tortoise — had only the common allowance of spirits. After an unusually long voyage due to bad weather, Clephane reported that the Daedalus and Tortoise had 112 and 62 men respectively requiring hospitalisation. The Grampus, on the other hand, had only 13, arguably a clear-cut result.
Needless to say, the sailors’ allowance of eight pints of beer per day is no longer within the accepted confines of current moderate alcohol consumption. One can only speculate on the state of their livers. Living on beer alone may be a fantasy for some, but it is not a good health strategy.
As I’ve noted before, Guinness is good for you:
A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.