your Mother would be proud

On any given day, 5.5 million pints of the famous Irish stout Guinness are consumed around the world. Today that number will more than double to 13 million pints. “"Slainté!"—the Irish word pronounced SLAN-cha, for health, said Beth Davies Ryan, global corporate relations director of Guinness.

That toast may brim with scientific truth. 

At a meeting of the American Heart Association, researchers reported that Guinness may be as effective as daily aspirin in reducing the blood clots that cause heart attacks. The benefit derives from antioxidants which reduce cholesterol deposits on arterial walls. The compounds are found in dark Irish stouts but not their paler cousins.

Fun in Ottawa, Canada, 2006

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!