Having been raised a small town, Southwestern Pennsylvania girl, I will admit that I have known more than a few individuals whose favorite past time includes sitting at the local bar laughing with friends while enjoying the taste of beer a little too much.  (BEER?? Is Nikki really writing about Beer???) Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about Beer in this blog… Recently, while traveling to the West Coast for my training in the Arvigo Technique of Maya Abdominal Massage, I, despite normally being more of a wine drinker, attended a beer tasting and tour of a local brewery in Seattle Washington, Red Hook.  Other than being interested in the comedic lecture that was being given about each beer that we sampled, I learned some interesting facts that I wanted to come home and share with everyone here in Pittsburgh who delights in the taste of beer, like the selection at our local D’s Six Pax and Dogz.  After my friends cheering that I had actually found a beer that I didn’t mind the taste of our tour guide, who originally gave me a weird look for being a wine drinker shared with me the fact that dark beer, such as their Black Hook Porter, actually has more B-Vitamins and antioxidants than some wines!  Really I thought, was he just trying to sell me on the idea of beer? So, upon returning home I decided to do some research of my own before posting this as a wellness tip to all of you, and to my surprise he was telling the truth!  Studies show that dark beer contains a similar amount of polyphenols as red wine and 4-5 times as many polyphenols as white wine.  These antioxidants which come from plant sources in dark beers such as Porters may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.  In addition to the antioxidants in the Porter beers, they have also been found to have a high concentration B vitamins such as B-6 and B-12. Now, let’s get serious I am certainly not going to say that now there is a reason to go binge drinking on dark beer.  Nor am I going to say that you should forego healthy eating and lifestyle habits, but my eyes have been opened to the fact that there could be some competition to all of the news out there about choosing wine over beer.  In fact, in my searching to find out the answers to "Could Drinking Beer Really Be Good for Your Health?" I even came across a company in Germany which is trying to market a beer as the “Anti-Cancer Beer”. So while I am not promoting drinking alcohol, I thought I would share this interesting tidbit with all of you so that you can have a reason to bring up more health conscious living while sitting on your local Pittsburgh bar stool. *Also, my little disclaimer is that you should not drink ANY alcohol during the same day as a massage or healing session.