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The western diet has become so horrible and disease-inducing, that alcohol displacing some those calories has a net positive effect - truly an impressive "accomplishment".

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There was a questionable claim going around that beer was healthier than soda.

I don't really believe it especially when you take into account results like car crashes, but there is a figment of truth in it.

If you remove automobiles, I wouldn't be totally surprised if sugary soft drinks turned out to be worse than beer. Probably neither one is going to be good for you.

Beer may indeed be "healthier" than soda as the fermentation process used to make it does create microbial cells that may be beneficial for your gut health (https://fermentation.wsu.edu/alcohol-fermentation-products/b...). It's the alcohol content in it that makes it "unhealthy" for us, just as it is the excessive sugar in the soda that's really bad for us. (And, ofcourse, it also depends on how much of both you actually consume).

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