If you want to avoid a trip to the emergency room, you better put down the Budweiser.
Better set aside the can of Steel Reserve, too.
Researchers found those two beers are the drink of choice for nearly 30 percent of people who landed in the ER after drinking, according to an NBC News story.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted a pilot study seeking to find out what types and brands of alcohol ER patients were drinking before they ended up in the hospital.
The researchers found that while Budweiser has 9.1 percent of the national beer market, it represented about 15 percent of the ER market, according to the story.
Steel Reserve Malt Liquor, however, had a more pronounced disparity.
Steel Reserve (which has an alcohol content of 8.1 percent) has only .8 percent of the national beer market, but accounted for 14.7 percent of the ER market, according to NBC News.
Other top choices among ER patients:
-Colt 45 malt liquor
-Bud Ice malt liquor
-Bud Light
-Barton’s (a discount-priced vodka)
In total, Steel Reserve, Colt 45, Bud Ice and King Cobra (another malt liquor) accounted for 46 percent of the beer consumed by ER patients. But the four beers make up only 2.4 percent of the U.S. beer market, according to NBC News.
Marissa Harshman
I'm the health reporter for The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash. I started at The Columbian -- my hometown newspaper -- in September 2009. Reach me at marissa.harshman@columbian.com or 360-735-4546.