许多业余爱好者一直质疑科学家给出的官方声明，无酒精的weissbier或小麦啤酒能对运动员的健康产生正面影响。在约翰内斯谢尔博士（Dr. Johannes Scherr）主持下，医生分别在2009年慕尼黑马拉松比赛前3个星期和后2个星期对277个选手检测，相关的检测数据支持了上述结论。
无酒精小麦啤酒有助于运动员的健康
研究的重点是马拉松对运动员的健康危害和多酚物质对马拉松运动员的潜在积极作用。多酚是一类存在植物中的芳香族化合物，其中一部分具有确定的有益健康和预防癌症的生理功能。这一研究的特别之处是在大量调查者之中检测一类不同的多酚物质。研究小组通过随机分配和对照试验符合科学要求。
研究结果表明，跑完马拉松比赛，运动员要经历严重的炎症反应，表现在：免疫系统失去平衡，上呼吸道很可能遭受感染，剧烈运动之后病毒易感性形象地比喻成“开放的窗户”。此外，无酒精的小麦啤酒由于含有多酚物质，对机体具有积极、健康地影响，如血液中炎症指标显著下降，感染温和症状的频率也是较低的。
降低的炎症反应：来自德国国家ski小组的希尔博士（Scherr）称，作为炎症反应重要指标之一的白细胞（或称为白血细胞）在阳性试验组的参数要比对照组低20%。
免疫系统的保护：试验组饮品中的化合物对免疫系统具有补偿或平衡的功能，希尔博士说，我们可以证实多酚物质加强由机体过度劳累损害的免疫系统，同时，它还能预防自身免疫疾病。
预防感冒：饮用无酒精的小麦啤酒可以帮助运动员减少2/3的感染几率，同时降低1/3的感冒风险。
上呼吸道感染的改善：试验组感冒症状比对照组的要温和。喝试验饮品的每8人中，只有一个感冒，这一现象称为Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of eigh。
总之，“许多文章都报道，含有多酚的食物对运动员健康由积极作用，然而，令人吃惊的是，这一研究的证据是如此地清晰。如今，我们已经科学地论证关于实验饮品的假设，该实验饮品是有多酚、维生素和矿物质按特定比例混合而成。”希尔博士说。
希尔博士已经把研究结论递呈给在丹佛出席全球最大的体育医疗盛会的5,000名科学家、医生和教练。相关的结论发表在1月的Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE)期刊上。（生物探索译）
生物探索推荐英文原文
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2011;
DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182250dda
Non-Alcoholic Wheat Beer Boosts Athletes' Health, Sport Doctors Say
Many amateur athletes have long suspected what research scientists for the Department of Preventative and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen at Klinikum rechts der Isar have now made official: Documented proof, gathered during the world's largest study of marathons, "Be-MaGIC" (beer, marathons, genetics, inflammation and the cardiovascular system), that the consumption of non-alcoholic weissbier, or wheat beer, has a positive effect on athletes' health. Under the direction of Dr. Johannes Scherr, physicians examined 277 test subjects three weeks before and two weeks after the 2009 Munich Marathon.
The study focuses on the health risks for marathon runners and the potential positive effects of polyphenols. These aromatic compounds occur naturally in plants as pigment, flavor, or tannins, many of which have been credited with health-promoting and cancer-preventative properties. Unique to this study was the combination of different polyphenols that were tested on the large pool of participants. The research team met the scientific requirements of the study by conducting a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Non-alcoholic Erdinger wheat beer was selected as the test beverage, chosen for its rich and varied polyphenol content and its popularity with marathoners and tri-athletes. The "active" group drank up to 1.5 liters of the test beverage per day, while a second group consumed an equal amount of an otherwise indistinguishable placebo beverage that contained no polyphenols and was especially produced for the study.
One result from the study was the discovery that, after running a marathon race, athletes experience intensified inflammatory reactions. The immune system is thrown off balance and runners are much more likely to suffer from upper respiratory infections. This heightened susceptibility to illness following strenuous sport activity has been identified as an "open window." Furthermore it was shown that non-alcoholic wheat beer containing polyphenols has a positive, health promoting effect on the human body: inflammation parameters in the blood were significantly reduced, and there was a lower frequency of infection with milder symptoms.
Reduced Inflammatory Reaction: Dr. Scherr, who also serves as physician to the German National Ski Team, explains: The analysis of the leukocytes, or white blood cells, which constitute one of the most important parameters for inflammation, revealed values in the active group that were 20% lower than in the placebo group."
Support for the Immune System: Compounds in the test drink had a compensatory or balancing effect on the immune system. Dr Scherr: "We were able to prove that it strengthens an immune system that has been weakened by physical stress. It also prevents the system from over-performing."
Prevents Colds: Runners who drank the non-alcoholic wheat beer were up to three times less susceptible to infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: "Drinking the non-alcoholic test beverage reduces your risk of developing a cold by one third."
Improvement with Upper Respiratory Infections: People in the active group who did succumb to a cold experienced a milder or briefer infection than those in the placebo group. Dr. Scherr: "Results showed a Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of eight. That means that for every eight people who had the test drink, one of them was prevented from succumbing to a cold."
In summary, Dr. Scherr explains: "The potential for foods containing polyphenols to have a positive effect on athletes' health has already been suggested in several articles. Nevertheless we were ourselves sometimes surprised at how clearly evident this was in the results. We now have scientific confirmation of those assumptions for this test beverage, with its particular combination of polyphenols, vitamins and minerals."
Dr. Scherr presented this study to the approximately 5,000 scientists, physicians, and trainers attending the world's largest congress for sports medicine in Denver (USA) hosted by the American College of Sports (ACSM) at the beginning of June 2011. The study will be published in the January printed edition of the professional journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE).
Peter Liebert, Managing Director for Technology, Purchasing, Human Resources and Logistics for Erdinger Weissbräu, is pleased about the study results: "In brief, the Be-MaGIC study confirms the benefits for sport athletes and proves new health-promoting effects. Thus, Erdinger alcohol-free is proven to be more than just an isotonic thirst-quencher."
