By Penny Stern, MD
NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters Health) - An antioxidant in beer may be especially
potent, according to researchers at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
Antioxidants have been linked to protective effects against atherosclerosis,
cancer, aging, inflammation, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Earlier investigations have suggested that hops, used to brew beer, contain
some potentially useful compounds, as well. Now, Dr. Donald R. Buhler and
colleagues have investigated whether molecules in beer, called prenylchalcones
and prenylflavanones, can act as antioxidants.
Buhler said his team found that "on a molecule to molecule basis,
xanthohumol, the major prenylchalcone in hops and beer, is a more powerful
antioxidant than alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) or genistein (a soy antioxidant.)"
And, when xanthohumol is combined with vitamin E, its "potency...as an
antioxidant is markedly increased," Buhler noted.
Sounds promising, you say? The only problem with xanthohumol is that you'd
have to consume some "2,000 liters (of beer) per day" in order to ingest the 10
milligrams or so of daily xanthohumol "to get the effective concentration for
antioxidant activity," Buhler pointed out.
So, at present "drinking beer is not a good way to get the antioxidant
benefit of xanthohumol," Buhler said, "however, it is possible to increase the
xanthohumol content of beer by using hops containing high concentrations of
xanthohumol during the brewing process."
"More practical," perhaps, might be "taking xanthohumol as a dietary
supplement alone or in combination with vitamin E," the researcher added.
Buhler emphasizes that the team's results "indicate the need for further
study into the potential health benefits of these...flavonoids. Our encouraging
results with xanthohumol suggest that this prenylchalcone should be further
studied for its antioxidant action and protective effects against (oxygen)
damage."
