Wellcultured - A men's fashion, fitness, sex, and lifestyle magazine.

Beer. Mmm. Mmm, beer. We all know how satisfying a beer is, especially after a long day’s work, especially on a hot summer’s day. We all know how often one beer, leads to two beers, leads to three beers, leads to the evening, leads to more. However, there are some unpleasant side effects of beer that you may not be entirely aware of, sub consciously aware, but not factually aware of.

In general, drinking too much alcohol will weaken your libido and impair your sperm. The over consumption of alcohol will also hamper your body’s ability to bounce back into its natural rhythm. During this down time, your body has a much harder time in building new muscle tissue. So, if you’re a big time gym member, and wondering why your muscle mass is not increasing as quickly as you would have expected, better consider the kinds of fluids you’ve been kicking back on a regular basis.

What interests us currently are the side effects of beer on your man bod.  Most beers have hops as an essential ingredient. How many of us really know what hops are though? Hops are an ingredient that comes from a female flower called, Humulus Lupulus. If a small red light went off in your brain when you read the word ‘female,’ then yes, you are on to something, and I’m going to tell you exactly what that something is.

Humulus Lupulus, is a flower that has especially high levels of phytoestrogen, which is a plant estrogen. Intriguingly enough, phytoestrogen was used as early as the 1500’s to help women who were suffering from severe menopausal symptoms. Interesting, no? Well, unfortunately for you, it does not end there. It has also been documented that women who were harvesting hops were said to have experienced early menstruation.

Hops were also known to have been used by monks in order to reduce their sexual desires. This thought-provoking fact is said to date back to sometime in the 1600’s. I guess you see where I’m going with all of this?

Phytoestrogen contributes to the build up of extra fatty tissue in the chest, hence the term ‘man boobs,’ hmm…not so sexy. Phytoestrogen is also alleged to contribute to hair loss in men and to, wait for it, shrink your testes, yup, that’s right, I said it, you read it, now its out there and there is no avoiding it any longer. Sorry. How worth it are those hops now?

So next time, you’re getting off a tense work day, and your dreaming of filling your mouth and body with a nice cold beer, better take a reflective look down, and decide if that’s something your body and appearance will actually appreciate.

Tags: alcohol, beer, humulus lupulus, libido, phytoestrogen, testosterone