Surprising Beer Ingredients: GMO Corn And Carcinogens : Consumer News : Medical Daily

Surprising Beer Ingredients: GMO Corn And Carcinogens : Consumer News : Medical Daily:

Blogger Vani Hari, also known as the "Food Babe," is a nutrition and general health writer who has gained significant media and publicity over many of her investigations into ingredients, labels, and food establishments. As an ingredients detective, Hari has examined the truth behind labels and analyzed the truthfulness of their products. Recently, she has released findings on the beer industry's mysterious concoctions.

"Caring about what you eat doesn't necessarily translate into caring about what you drink and this is a huge mistake," wrote Hari. "I see it all the time. Someone who eats organic, makes the right choices at the grocery store, is fit and lives an extraordinarily healthy lifestyle but then drinks beer like it is going out of style."

The way alcohol metabolizes in the body can shed some light on how the body digests food, hormones, and medications. Hari looks at not only beer's influence on the organs, but also the general consequences of alcohol consumption on your health.

Alcohol breaks down differently than other substances because it goes directly into the bloodstream through the stomach and intestines, which then filters through the liver. The liver is your body's main fat-burning organ and will prioritize metabolizing alcohol over fat, which ultimately makes weight loss a more difficult process.

Hari found that, after interviewing and researching a wide variety of beer companies, American beer is made with many ingredients aside from the basic hops, malt, and yeast. But the average consumer is blind to the foreign additives that are used to clarify, stabilize, preserve, and enhance the color and flavor of beer, especially because manufacturers are not legally obligated to disclose the ingredients or list them anywhere on the packaging.

Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and president of Eat Drink Politics, spoke to Hari about the matter. "You can also thank the alcohol industry, which has lobbied for years against efforts to require ingredient labeling," she said.