With every New Year's comes the ever present resolutions. Like many of us, you are full of good intentions and you add to your long list, but as the year, months, days, even seconds pass, so do your resolutions. So how about putting one on your list that you can actually keep? And something that's also good for you? Well, believe it or not, but Beer might be the answer.

Since the growing popularity of craft beer and homebrewing in the last 20+ years, there have been a number of studies comparing beer's health benefits to other well know foods and beverages.

Let's start with the facts: an average (12 once bottle) of beer has about 450 calories. A beer a day with no other adjustments to diet and lifestyle could amount to about 15 extra pounds in a year. However, when compared to some other well know foods, perhaps that's not so bad. Take the ever popular fast food – fries, they rack up about 500 calories. A Whopper is hitting about 650, and a bag of potato chips comes in at about 1,200 calories. Even something as innocent looking as cashew nuts are close to 600 calories for an average serving. So a beer doesn't seem so bad after all.

Okay, so we've looked at the negative side of the equation, what about the other side? Are there any health benefits to beer? Well in a recent report by Kaiser Permanente, a well known health care organization, report shows that people who drink moderately report better health than people who don't drink at all. Beer actually contains a good amount of the stuff that's good for us such as magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and is chock full of B vitamins. It contains no fat. It has a good amount of fiber as well and can help reduce your cholesterol. A recent study in the Netherlands on the help benefits of beer consuption found that levels of HDL cholesterol, which is associated with better cardiovascular health, can be significantly increased with moderate beer consuption.

Additionally, an Israeli research from 2002 found that drinking one beer a day triggered changes in blood chemistry that are associated with a reduced risk of heart attack. However, scientists warn that moderate drinking still cannot be directly linked to a lower heart-attack risk. Some studies suggest that lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise may help account for some of the association between lower heart-disease risk and drinking.

So what about homebrew? Well take all the above and add to that the fact that homebrew (generally) contains no preservatives, chemicals or additives. It also contains high amount of vitamin B.

So as your New Year's resolutions list begins to fade, don't forget your health – good eating, good exercise and, of course, good beet (in moderation).To your health! Happy New Year.