First off, I’d like to congratulate the City of New Orleans and the Saints on their Super Bowl XLIV victory. It is quite an accomplishment for a city that has never won a professional sports championship and was ravaged by one of the greatest natural disasters in history just five years ago. Major props in particular to coach Sean Payton for possibly the gutsiest play call in Super Bowl history, the onside kick to start the half. With the other Peyton on the other side of the field, that call required cajones the size of a Swiss ball.
The thing that I walked away with from watching the Super Bowl had less to do with the freakish athletes playing the game, but more to do with the commercials. I’m sure you noticed that Budweiser once again dominated the advertising space for the Super Bowl. Have you ever paid any attention to the bodies of guys you see in a Bud commercial? Have you ever seen a guy that looked remotely athletic, let alone one who had slabs of muscle armor plating and was busting out of his shirt like many of us MuscleDogs strive for? I didn’t think so. Obviously, Budweiser is targeting the college-age frat boy who will perform ridiculous shenanigans like the ones you see in the commercials, but the body type of every guy you see in the commercials of any beer company range from average, to downright disgusting depending on the size of the spare tire. Through clever marketing, American society has painted beer as the manly drink of choice, but I have a news flash for you: Real Men Drink Wine.
The Most Interesting Man in the Room “doesn’t always drink beer, but when he does he drinks Dos Equis.” Well, the reason the Most Interesting Man in the Room doesn’t always drink beer is because he is usually drinking wine. This would also explain why this 103-year-old man is as well preserved as he is. Resveratrol, a polyphenol that is abundant in the skin and seeds of grapes (and hence in wine), is quite possibly the most powerful anti-aging compound known to man. Studies at Harvard Medical School have shown this compound to increase the lifespan of organisms ranging from yeast to fruit flies to mice (even in very small amounts). This anti-oxidant has also been shown to exhibit anti-cancer properties, increase blood flow in the brain to help prevent strokes and decrease inflammation that causes lung and heart disease. The alcohol in wine (and to be fair, in beer as well) can help to thin your blood and prevent heart attacks. Of course you want to drink in moderation (no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women), but a glass of wine every night with dinner can be downright beneficial for your health.
Beer on the other hand, is quite the opposite of the manly drink it is made out to be. The hops in beer have been shown to increase estrogen levels, although in very small amounts. In many cases, the combination of alcohol and grain carbohydrates that you get from drinking beer overloads the liver and the sugars that both compounds are broken down in to tend to be stored. This is why half of the guys you see in beer commercials have “beer bellies” (which if you didn’t know before), are caused by an extreme excess of adipose fat tissue around your abdominal organs. This type of fat encourages lypogensis (fat production) and is the worst type of fat that you can carry.
Like most men, I do enjoy the occasional beer. However (when thinking about my beverage of choice), in the back of my mind I always have the picture of the guys in the Bud commercials and whether I want to look like one of them.
What’s rocking my iPod this week: Coheed and Cambria – Welcome Home (from Rock Band and the movie “9”)