beer
I once heard that if you were only allowed to eat only one food for the rest of your life, you should choose beer. With enough calories and fluids to sustain you – this would be the choice for longevity and you get to drink beer! But with further research this is totally preposterous, just read this Bukowski-esque story from Peter Thompson at Modern Drunkard.

You would most certainly need plenty of water to counteract the dehydration from the alcohol. Some alcoholics do live mostly on alcohol and eventually get very malnourished. Vitamins C and the B spectrum would severely be depleted. But the brewer’s yeast in beer would counteract this process as it’s high in protein, some B vitamins, phosphorus, and chromium. Chromium is crucial in processing glucose and could help counteract the LDL cholesterol flooding your arteries as your liver processes the ethanol. So maybe…

But another ingredient, hops, could also do some damage to men. There are trace levels of estrogen in beer, and it is the hops that are bringing in this hormone. Though the moobs that men who consume vast quantities of the brew like to sport, this may be more a factor of fat then estrogen. The jury is still out if the beer in estrogen (I’m drinking beer as I’m writing this so I’m going to leave this typo in for demonstrations sake) can lower men’s testosterone.

Aside from water, the last ingredient in beer is grain. The effects of gluten from the barley (or other grains) on sensitive immune systems is well documented. The most serious reactions are known as Celiac disease. Gluten can also trigger minor sensitivities and cause a histamine reaction (stuffy nose, redness, constriction of smooth muscle, asthma). And no doubt a prolonged exposure with a beer mono-diet could really reak havoc on your immune system.

So if you don’t mind losing your teeth, expanding your belly to an incredible berth, and turning your liver to fat – see if you can survive on beer and perhaps it will help what is “ale”ing you.