How beer saved the world !

Beer, an essential beverage in taverns or as an accompaniment to meals, has beneficial properties on health if consumed responsibly and moderately. An emblematic figure of certain societies, this liquid resulting from the fermentation of various cereals was beneficial for the health balance among a good number of peoples as well as for its contribution in nutrients. No, the title of this article is not exaggerated and I will prove it to you through some historical fact whose science to repeatedly prove the veracity of the properties of this divine drink.

A source of development

The oldest traces of beer making and consumption date back to around 8000 B.C., during the agricultural revolution that was spreading to the four corners of the globe. The first testimonies praising the merits of this mixture, essentially based on barley whose grains germinated and fermented, come from Mesopotamian tables dating back 4000 years BC. Some theorists consider that the discovery of beer by man occurred long before the creation of bread and was then considered as a complete nutrient. So much so that the cultivation of barley and many other cereals had appeared solely for the purpose of producing this sweet nectar. It is in this desire to develop the growth of beer production that humanity as a whole invented methods of cultivation still in force today, thus realizing the beginnings of large-scale agriculture.

A great civilization designed around beer !

Let us remain for a moment in antiquity and pay a little attention to one of the most majestic civilizations of all time: Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians, in their multitudes of cults and beliefs, particularly devoted excessive veneration to this beverage. Glorified and acclaimed by the people, beer was classified as a drink to the divine nature, nourishing body and mind. During the construction of the pyramid of Giza, the workers and craftsmen in charge of the realization of these works, were paid in cash... More exactly in liters of beer, for their efforts provided. To this end, it must be understood that beer was a staple food in ancient Egypt and was consumed by all strata of society and at all ages. This one was low in alcohol (around 3%) but abounded in vitamins and minerals essential to the good functioning of the human body. This is not all, since this beverage was even provided by doctors of that period, as a miracle cure to treat many ailments. Recently, a team of researchers discovered significant traces of tetracycline on 2000 year old mummies! This antibiotic was the result of the fermentation of the grains used for the elaboration of their central food ! A step ahead of modern medicine!

No salvation without cervoise !

Let us switch this time to the side of the medieval era, to concentrate on a hygiene problem specific to this period. The insalubrity of the rivers then spread epidemics of diseases which essentially affected the people who consumed them. This is due to pollution caused by massive spills of faecal matter and tannery discharges, without the water then soiled being able to be treated. However, the use of beer makes it possible to protect against a good number of infections, in particular thanks to the brewing process which eliminates the existence of microorganisms as well as pathogenic bacteria. It was therefore more than vital to drink a fermented drink if one still cared about life in those days. No doubt perceived as providence by a whole people, drinking beer was then an act of health that resulted from a primary science. Everyone drank beer from the cradle to the grave.

To finish this article, I'd like to thank @philodendron in particular for having encouraged me to talk about this subject and for having breathed into me, the title of this one!

Cheers !