Sake It To Me...

Today's social media task for Genghis Grill Health Kwest is to write about why sake is healthier than some other alcoholic beverages. I will have to admit...I used to drink a lot of sake, but then again, I used to drink a lot of everything at that time in my life. As a matter of fact, I believe that the last time I drank sake I was buying it by the "teapot", and sharing it with everybody at the sushi bar. I was tore up, but then again, I also drank a bunch at happy hour before going out for sushi. Those were the days, but fortunately for me, those days are long gone.

Ok, I digress....So I never really thought of sake being healthy. I know from working as a bartender of craft beers for almost a decade that sake is a rice wine, that is actually brewed and fermented more closely to beer than wine. Yeah, that's right! It's basically rice BEER instead of wine. The yeast converts the sugars in the rice into alcohol during the fermentation process, just as yeast converts barley malt into alcohol. But I guess calling it a rice beer doesn't sound nearly as classy, or maybe it makes people think of cheap beer, as the big 3 domestics primarily use rice because it is cheap and mass produced.

Again, I digress....I suppose to be writing about what health benefits have been linked to drinking sake. Here is what I have found from the research provided by several internet sources:

* In countries that consume sake, such as Japan, less cases of liver failure, liver cancer, and cirrhosis have been documented.

* Just as other alcoholic beverages, sake helps to relieve stress and promote social facilitation.

* Drinking sake helps to increase good cholesterol, which helps to carry away the bad cholesterols back to the liver to be excreted, and it helps to reduce plaques and blockages in the arteries.

* Sake consumption (in moderation) helps with circulation of the blood and helps to expand blood vessels.

* Drinking sake is easier on your stomach and digestive system than other liquors, such as whiskey.

* Sake can help reduce the risk of strokes by increasing blood flow in the brain.

All this time, and I thought it was just a good compliment to sushi. I would like to give a shout-out to TY KU for gifting me a little bottle of sake for my participation in Genghis Grill Health Kwest.

And I had a long day at work.....

Lori