For years the Dublin brewers of the famous, black stout ale used to claim that it had health benefits. Their old adverts used to say: "Guinness is Good For You", until that was the EU intervened and stopped them. However, as the BBC reported this week a team of researchers has now discovered that there may be some life in the old phrase yet.
The team at the University of Wisconsin conducted a series of tests in which dogs suffering from problems with their arteries were fed around a pint of Guinness with their meals each day. Another group were fed lager beer instead.
At the end of the study, it emerged that the dogs on the Guinness diet were less prone to clotting in the arteries - a major cause of heart attacks. As the BBC reported:
The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes. They believe that "antioxidant compounds" in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.
