What do you find interesting in beer and how long have you been drinking? This is a common quest for the rationale behind beer drinking. For a regular beer lover, there is more to beer than what the uninitiated can perceive.
Unarguably, the overbearing perspective projected by the drunks, a subset of the beer drinking school, had given a bad public perception to beer, from the angle of religious intolerance and perceived economic wastage, yet this wonderful beverage has survived much more.
To the class of beer drinkers, beer has taste; it’s got class and creed. Two weeks back, this magazine hit the streets to find out what really captures the imagination of the average beer drinker. If you say beer is not the most pleasant tasting beverage out there, you will be amazed to realize that there is a huge number of people out there that enjoy drinking beer, despite its ‘bitter’ taste.
Of a dozen average man and woman we encountered on beer, many confirmed the fact that, as mature minds, once you’ve grown accustomed to something unique, which they find beer is, your sense of taste is not as overwhelmed by beer’s supposed bitterness.
Well, some, on religious beliefs, perceive beer to be harmful. But, in truth, beer is not, and like every other food, beer is synonymous with benefits as long as it is consumed in moderation. In our search, we discovered that there are perks enjoyed by beer drinkers, one of which is that it is capable of lowering bad cholesterol levels, while it also tends to increase the amount of good cholesterol in the body. This was Obi’s submission, a public relations expert who confessed that he most enjoys beer’s bitter sweet taste, saying he started with beer in his university days.
Beer boosts bones density, while it conveniently cleanses colon and makes the drinker to attain a much better bowel movement. You may find this funny but it is not; Yomi Ajayi, a photographer at Yaba College of Technology, said “With two bottles of beer, I get the feeling that I am a man. Beer has the power to make you a man. I have been drinking for about seven years now and I’m not ready to stop.”
One other fact that does not hide about drinking beer is that you are pushed to pee with ease, which translates to the fact that beer possesses the capability to act as a natural cleanser of substances that are considered to be kidney-stone builders. A middle-aged working class woman would even introduce a different but class angle to the topic. She is Silifat. Asked of her special interest in beer, the fair-skinned lady said she had no special interest at first, she just took to beer drinking to tell men that whatever a man can do, women can do better! Well, she confessed that beer has remained a companion since then, outside her reason for taking to drinking.
Those who have not been drinking beer and are listening to ‘tales by the moonlight’ about beer causing diabetes will be shocked to realize that, indeed beer has the potential to reduce chances of developing diabetes. Researches have shown that beer can effectively lower the blood sugar level of those who drink it. In fact, beer drinkers are 25 percent less likely to develop such a disease than non-drinkers!
Indeed, for reasons not yet completely understood, drinking beer protects the brain from aging-related degradation. Of course, this means that individuals who drink beer are able to think much more quickly than non-drinkers.
Other Nigerians of beer age also spoke to us on the magic of beer in their day-to-day life. Qudus Ayeni said “it (drinking beer) is just a status symbol, and ‘I belong’ kind of stuff. I have been drinking for a long time.” For Izu, he loves drinking beer “because it makes friendship easier”. The young man said he started drinking beer at age 16. Kabir confessed that he was religious but that drinking beer helps him become creative. “It is a creativity stimulant for me. I started drinking in 2006,” he said. Kunle Aribigbe says that “the only thing interesting about beer to me is its power that makes you forget your problems. After a bottle or two, I get moved away from whatever I’m brooding over.”
Overall, it is undeniable that drinking beer in moderation is a much healthier course of action than many believe it to be.
-Folorunsho Hamsat
