1. Heineken
Heavily filtered and carbonated lagers are going to contain less beneficial nutrients for the gut.
2. Budweiser Lager
Another filtered beer, this will have less polyphenols than ale.
3. San Miguel
This popular lager is likely to contain fewer microbes than the twice-fermented Belgian beers.
4. Peroni
Like the other filtered lagers this beer is likely light on gut-friendly plant chemicals.
5. Stella Artois normal lagers
If you’re looking for a gut-friendly version opt for their unfiltered lager.
6. Heineken Alcohol-Free Lager
Just like the alcoholic versions, alcohol-free lagers are less likely to have any real benefits for your gut.
It’s not just beer – cider can be good too
According to Amati, there is some evidence that artisan cider brands – for example Old Rosie Scrumpy Cider and Henry Westons Vintage Cider – can have benefits for the gut microbiome.
“They tend to have some of the actual fruit left in the drink, meaning that fermentation carries on for longer,” she says. “The cloudier ciders are better as these are sugars known as polysaccharides which float in the cider and they’re good prebiotics to feed the gut bugs.”
Other drinks, which hark back to medieval times, such as mead which has seen a recent resurgence in London, are also thought to be beneficial for the gut. “All this ancient stuff made back in the day tends to use quite a lot of the fibre from the fruit in making it, which is why they could have some benefits,” says Amati.
But, as always, moderation is key
However, all gut experts are keen to emphasise that alcoholic drinks do not equate to health drinks and in many cases, any benefits for the gut are likely to be cancelled out by the impact of alcohol on the body.
“I’m very keen to pass on the message that we have to drink very moderately,” says Amati. “Have at least three days with no alcohol in your week, and no more than one drink when you do drink.”
NHS guidelines recommend no more than 14 units of alcohol per week – equivalent to eight cans of average strength (four per cent) beer – warning that alcohol raises the risk of multiple cancers as well as heart and liver disease.
Rossi also advocates drinking no more than one or two alcoholic drinks at a time. “When we’re talking about any anti-inflammatory benefits for the gut from these darker beers, that becomes pro-inflammatory after about two drinks,” she explains. “That’s because the alcohol starts to make the gut a little bit leaky, allowing things to move from our gut into the bloodstream that wouldn’t normally be there, and causing low-grade inflammation.”