Study: Compound Found In Beer Boosts Brain Function

An anonymous reader writes Researchers have found that a chemical found in hops may actually improve memory. Unfortunately, a person would need to drink 3,520 pints of beer a day to get a high enough dose of the chemical to boost their brain power. A daunting task for even the most enthusiastic Oktoberfest participant. From the article: "Researchers at Oregon State University discovered that doses of xanthohumol, a flavonoid found in hops, improved memory and thinking in a lucky group of mice. Flavonoids are a class of compounds present in plants, known to have numerous health benefits. Last year, researchers discovered that a flavonoid found in celery and artichokes could potentially fight pancreatic cancer. The researchers treated the mice with dietary supplements of xanthohumol over the course of eight weeks. Their goal was to determine if xanthohumol could affect palmitoylation, a naturally occurring process in animals (including humans) that's associated with memory degradation. The mice then went through a series of tests—including the popular Morris water maze—to gauge whether or not the treatments had improved their spatial memory and cognitive flexibility. For the younger mice in the group, it worked. But on the older mice, unfortunately, the xanthohumol didn't seem to have any effect."

Comments

Compound Found In Beer Impairs Brain Function

[sexconker]

No matter how many beneficial ingredients/components that beer and other alcoholic beverages may have, the dominant, overriding player will always be the alcohol, which is just fucking terrible for you.

Re:Compound Found In Beer Impairs Brain Function

[Zeio]

Wrong.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wa...

Vitamins didn't seem to affect longevity, but alcohol intake did, with people who drank up to two drinks per day having a 10-15 percent reduced risk of death compared to non-drinkers. "A lot of people like to say it's only red wine. In our hands it didn't seem to matter," says Dr. Kawas.

might want to check the facts on this.

Re: Compound Found In Beer Impairs Brain Function

[jd2112]

A glass or two of wine/day : good
3250 beers/day : makes Amy Winehouse look sober.

Re:Compound Found In Beer Impairs Brain Function

[Travis Mansbridge]

To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems.

Drink IPA

[Zeio]

I drink Pliny the Elder every Thursday @ 11 am at a bar locally here that taps just ONE KEG and this keg lasts about 1 Hour. 30-50 pitchers of beer.

Micro-bubbles in the brew.

Pliny is nice. Its balanced, lots of hops, IPA classic, only good fresh, and its smooth

Hops are really awesome. They are brain food. Also brewers yeast is able to even control blood pressure.

I love beer.

Re:Obligatory XKCD reference

[nitehawk214]

I think you want the Balmer Peak. Nobody wants to peek at Balmer.