Addiction expert Sara Jo Nixon says that like red wine, drinking beer can be good for your heart.
"That's something that the beer industry has not really capitalized on," said Nixon.
An Italian study of more than 200,000 people found those who drank a pint a day had a 31-percent decrease in heart disease risk. Beer can also raise HDL, the good cholesterol in your body.
A 2009 study found the high levels of silicon in beer can be good for bones, but too much could mean more fractures.
"We also know that there's a line between too much alcohol being bad for bones," said Nixon.
Harvard studies found beer can prevent blood clots and reduce the risk of stroke, and that a few beers a day lowered the risk of diabetes in middle-aged men by 25 percent.
Research in Europe found moderate beer drinkers had 30-percent higher levels of the disease-fighting vitamin B-6 compared to non-drinkers.
"But you can't substitute a beer for your multivitamin," said Nixon.
Nixon says moderation is key. It's recommended that women have no more than one drink a day and men no more than two, because the organ systems that benefit from a few beers are the same organ systems that are compromised when you "cross the line."
A few more benefits of beer: A study in Finland reports that men who drank a few bottles daily lowered their risk of kidney stones by 40 percent.
Research found marinating a steak in beer could reduce the risk of cancer. It wipes out the majority of carcinogens that are produced when meat is fried in a pan.
