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from the beer-is-there-anything-it-can't-do? dept.
Beer hops compounds could help protect against Alzheimer's disease:
Beer is one of the oldest and most popular beverages in the world, with some people loving and others hating the distinct, bitter taste of the hops used to flavor its many varieties. But an especially "hoppy" brew might have unique health benefits. Recent research published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience reports that chemicals extracted from hop flowers can, in lab dishes, inhibit the clumping of amyloid beta proteins, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD).
AD is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease, often marked by memory loss and personality changes in older adults. [...] Accordingly, preventative strategies and therapeutics that can intervene before symptoms appear are of increasing interest.
One of these strategies involves "nutraceuticals," or foods that have some type of medicinal or nutritional function. The hop flowers used to flavor beers have been explored as one of these potential nutraceuticals, with previous studies suggesting that the plant could interfere with the accumulation of amyloid beta proteins associated with AD. So, Cristina Airoldi, Alessandro Palmioli and colleagues wanted to investigate which chemical compounds in hops had this effect.
[...] In tests, they found that the extracts had antioxidant properties and could prevent amyloid beta proteins from clumping in human nerve cells. The most successful extract was from the Tettnang hop, found in many types of lagers and lighter ales. [...] The researchers say that although this work may not justify drinking more bitter brews, it shows that hop compounds could serve as the basis for nutraceuticals that combat the development of AD.
Journal Reference:
Alessandro Palmioli, Valeria Mazzoni, Ada De Luigi, et al., Alzheimer's Disease Prevention through Natural Compounds: Cell-Free, In Vitro, and In Vivo Dissection of Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) Multitarget Activity, ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2022 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00444
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Friday November 18 2022, @08:13PM
Yet the first miracle at Cana tells us that God was not averse to people drinking wine. Even today, children are given watered wine to drink in mainstream Israeli kindergartens. And, given the symbolism of the Last Supper and the continued use of Communion wine in most of Christendom, you can say that imbibing alcoholic drinks is a key part of being Christian*. The substance of the wine may well be Christ's blood, but its earthly form retains alcohol, with all its properties.
*Some Methodists, as a personal decision, disagree. Mainstream Methodism does not require abstinence, 'merely', at minimum, a commitment to responsible drinking.