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Researchers Developing Cancer-Fighting Beer

CWmike writes "Ever picked up a cold, frosty beer on a hot summer's day and thought that it simply couldn't get any better? Well, think again. A team of researchers at Rice University in Houston is working on helping Joe Six Pack fight aging and cancer with every swill of beer." Thank you science! Now we just need cigarettes that cure baldness.

25 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. I liked it, but... by Andr+T. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In general, the addition of the resveratrol shouldn't affect the taste of the beer, since the chemical is odorless and tasteless, he said.

    So, why not adding it to... water? Because that way you wouldn't get in the newspaper, not even a /. mention?

    --

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  2. Re:Guinness already does it... by pclminion · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What is this thing with Guinness? The only difference between Guinness and yellow American beer is the color. If you want a good stout there are plenty to choose from. Instead people seem to treat Guinness as some kind of stand-out because it's the only dark-colored beer available in many places. That doesn't make it unique or even particularly good.

  3. Drink to fight cancer! ? by w0mprat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I get this is a good way to sneak beneficial nutrients into the diets of people who may otherwise have no interest nor motivation in seeking them, I have one problem with it: Considering alcohol consumption is a risk factor for many types of cancer (and being loaded with empty calories contributing to other health problems), this better be a no/low-alcohol beer or there may be no net benefit to consuming this versus not drinking any beer at all. Ok sure, one standard drink per day has not been shown to be a problem. This is not the behaviour of your typical beer affictionado. There may be a trend to drink more, just because it's perceived to be healthy.

    I do think reservatol has huge potential though, I'm sure Ray Kurzweil is already taking it along with his 250 pills a day. I also agree with finding feasible ways to improve the nutrition of existing food products rather than changing the habits of millions of consumers (which requires delivering boot to ass of corporates over their marketing amongst other things).

    Yet, why not investigate economic ways to put it in milk or processed grains? Hell why not bundle it along with xylitol and omega 3 in things we eat commonly? We could all but wipe out everything from tooth decay to heart disease, to dementia in one go.

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    1. Re:Drink to fight cancer! ? by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "While I get this is a good way to sneak beneficial nutrients into the diets of people who may otherwise have no interest nor motivation in seeking them,"

      Except a bunch of ignorant fear mongers will scream about it killing us, even though there is years of data spreading over millions of drinkers.

      see Fluoridated water.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Drink to fight cancer! ? by Chrisje · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's not likely.

      Assume Joe "The Plumber" drinks 2 beers every night when he comes home. Assume this is not lo-alcohol beer but regular plain old lager. If Joe Plumber is an American, it's a weaker, more tasteless beer regardless. But let's put Joe Plumber in the UK, Ireland or call 'm "Jan Loodgieter" (NL), "Calle Rörmokaren" (SE/NO) or "Hans Installateur" (GER) or "Tomàs Zednik" (Czech R). Let's assume he drinks beers in the same way his dad and granddad before him. Good, strong beers, fine, tasty beers in pints, boots, strange Belgian glasses and whatnot. Let's assume all of these people drink these beers anyway, with or without the chemical in it.

      Simply putting this chemical into the beer will not likely change the habits of all of these Joes. In France and the rest of the world, wine consumption didn't exactly triple when an article about the French paradox was published either. Partially because Joe might not read the newspaper because he's too busy in the pub. So having said that, how could this have an adverse affect?

  4. But resveratrol-producing yeast? by unassimilatible · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As a homebrewer, I'd pay for that. Add in the glowing yeast, and I'd (and a lot of homebrewers) would be pretty happy.

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  5. The problem is, most guys who drink Guinness by unassimilatible · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Have 20-inch necks, and a proportional waistline, which creates its own health problems.

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    Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
  6. So true by unassimilatible · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Homebrewers laugh at Guinness, as like with most commercial beers, it tastes like water after you taste a well-bodied homebrew.

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    Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
    1. Re:So true by Detritus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It happens all the time with beer and soft drinks. I used to know a pub owner in Hawaii that imported beer from Australia. It definitely tasted different from the export version of the brand that was sold on the mainland. Coke adjusts their recipe to suit local tastes and commodity prices.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
  7. Re:Wine by shawb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This does have to be applied recursively. Moderation in all things... especially moderation.

    --
    I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  8. Re:Rice? by Cyberia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good news: Cancer deaths down. Other news: Liver disease is up, researchers are looking for cause & cure.

  9. pish posh by retchdog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "French paradox" isn't one. The French are healthier because 1) they exercise; and 2) they only eat their famous meals on occasion. Generally, they eat "peasant food"; potatoes, bread, stews, &c. But of course that would be too difficult; no, it must be the wine. Drink, drink, drink! It's good for you!

    Here's a hint: the French drink wine because they enjoy it. When I drink beer, it's because I enjoy it. I probably won't enjoy this genetically-engineered "good for you" beer as much, so the whole idea is a non-starter. I could always just eat a pomegranate, and then drink a good beer. And for those who don't like pomegranates, we can just synthesize this "resveratol" and put it in multivitamins right?

    --
    "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
  10. The future by CmdrPorno · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I for one welcome this new synthesis between vice and medicine. What about strippers who can cure STDs and gambling to cure dyslexia?

    --
    Sent from my iPhone
  11. Making love in a canoe by quenda · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why is American beer like making love in a canoe?

    .

    .

    They're both fucking close to water.

    - the Bruces, Woolloomooloo university
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WRFJwGsbY

    1. Re:Making love in a canoe by tehcyder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Any drink that becomes more palatable the colder it gets is not worth drinking in the first place.

      What about a martini?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  12. Re:Rice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No kidding. Call me when we're hearing something from Johns HOPkins.

  13. Re:Bread? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why put it in bread when you can put it in beer?

  14. Let's make a penny go to more research by Provocateur · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...from the sale of each beer. Doesn't necessarily have to go towards cancer research; it could defray the cost of printing the new labels. We'd still buy 'em, drink 'em...in the name of research, get it?

    "Helping to find the cure, honey."

    It's for the rest of us armchair jocks that can't run for a cause, unless it involved dashing to the fridge for the next one.

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  15. Slashdot Community Effort by pipingguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm fighting cancer and growing hair right now!

  16. Re:Baldness by D'Sphitz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's also strange how volatile the display consoles on the bridge are, they seem to explode in a shower of sparks at the slightest provocation, killing the attendant (who, by sheer luck, is never one of the regular crew).

  17. Guess what the #2 best-selling beer is in Ireland by unassimilatible · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Budweiser

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    Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
  18. Resveratrol is not produced during fermentation by fragMasterFlash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The resveratrol in wine does not come from the yeast used to ferment it, it is a present in the fruit from which the wine is produced. While I have had far too much beer this evening to produce any links to back up this claim I will stake my reputation as an engineer, brewer and vintner that the stress undergone during the maturation of red wine grapes leads to the production of resveratrol. While tweaking yeast strains to reduce their impact on the resveratrol present in beer wort is an interesting idea, I would hazard that producing barley malt which contains a higher level of resveratrol would be much more likely to produce the desired result.

  19. Re:Think about the consequences this election year by I+cant+believe+its+n · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You know, if you really think about it, maybe we don't want Joe Six Pack to be cured of cancer. Thinning out the herd can be good.

    Is it ok if we start with the people you love?

    --
    She made the willows dance
  20. Re:Guinness already does it... by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because wine doesn't go with sports nearly as well as beer.

    Seriously though, in the mentioned in the article that you need somewhere around half a bottle of wine to get the health effects of the resveratrol. If a bottle is about 6 * 4oz glasses of wine, that means 3 glasses per day, and other researchers have found that more than 2 drinks of alcohol per day can have adverse health effects. So, my guess is they are looking for a way to give you 2 * 12oz beers with all the benefits of 3 * 4oz wine.

    BTW, I've noticed that Euro beers (don't ask me which; I wasn't paying close attention) tend to come in bottles that are 11 or 11.5 ounces now. WTF? Is this some evil side effect of going metric? Quit ripping us off, dammit!

    --
    I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
  21. Re:Guess what the #2 best-selling beer is in Irela by treeves · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What's enjoyable to you is not enjoyable to everyone. Some people actually don't like heavy beer.
      If it has to be like syrup for you to consider it as having any taste, maybe the problem is your tastebuds.

    --
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