Posted by brian on June 15, 2000, at 18:37:28
In reply to MAOIs and beer (Adam?), posted by Diane E. on June 12, 2000, at 16:30:07
> I have been reading old posts about MAOI food restrictions and diet. I would like to know more about people's
> experiences/information about various types of beer and MAOIs.
> In different places I have read:
> domestic may be okay, but imported is not
> bottled may be okay, but tap is not
> only beers "known to be safe" are okay
>
> What are people's experiences with these rules? Does domestic literally refer to country of origin or does
> it really refer to American style lager (e.g., Coors, Bud)? In other words, would American micro-brews fall
> into the domestic or imported category? How would one "know" a beer to be safe? Is there an ingredient or
> brewing process that makes some more likely to be problematic than others?
>
> Adam....I remember reading a while back that you were a lover of good beer and about to start oral MAOIs.
> How is it going? What have you learned?
>
> Fear not, I realize that no one can promise me anything and that the safest bet is to avoid beer all together. I
> am just trying to get a better understanding these distinctions.
>
> Thanks for any input.
> DianeDiane,
It sounds as though others here have answered your question. I don't know about MAOI interactions, but to answer your original question about beer:
Domestic beer is made out of any or all of the following ingredients:
Water
Barley malt (all beer contains some)
Wheat (malted or unmalted)
Rice (like Bud)
Corn (like Michelob)
Hops (usually a very small amount)
Brewing salts (like calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, NACL, etc.)Domestic beer refers to the big breweries - Bud, Miller, Coors, etc. Domestic beers are heavily filtered to remove yeast and other floating matter, as well as most of the flavor. Sometimes, clarifying agents are introduced to help settle debris. These might include Irish moss (seaweed, active ingredient carrageenan), isinsglass (pulverized fish bladders(!)), gelatin, or Polyclar (a polymer).
Microbreweries are by definition smaller than domestic breweries, and they tend to be much more experimental with their ingredients. Depending on what you try, you may run into fruits, vegetables, coffee, chocolate, ginger, anise, cinnamon, hot pepper, liquor. There's even a type of Irish stout that calls for oysters, and an 18th Century American beer that calls for a chicken! Neither of these last two is around much today (except in the garage closet of the odd Home Brewer ;-)
Also, Microbreweries often use a higher content of hops, both for its bittering qualities (alpha/beta acids in hop resin) and aroma/flavoring (essential oils). Micros also often don't filter like the big boys do, to keep in certain flavors. Unfiltered beer is a bit less stable than filtered, which affects the shelf life. It can also mean that the beer may change in flavor over time, or become more potent due to continued fermentation by the suspended yeast. You might find minute amounts of bacteria (no known pathogens can survive in beer) wild yeast and yeast sediment (high in vitamin B).
Depending on style, you'll have various amounts of esters, aldehydes, diacetyl, fusel alcohols and organic acids. On top of that you've got minerals, ethyl alcohol and CO2.
Many imported beers are similarly brewed, though some, such as Corona and Heineken, are brewed more like Bud and Coors.
Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable about the various effects of these ingredients on MAOIs can further help your husband along in any future beer selection.
poster:brian
thread:37074
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37446.html