New Health Benefits of Beer

The Craft Beer Festival is right around the corner on November 7th at Wings Event Center.  This new finding couldn’t have come at a better time.

According to IBTimes Drinking beer slows down Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.  Drinking beer could  prevent the damage of the brain cells, according to Jianguo Fang and his colleagues of Lanzhou University’s school of chemistry.

Beer is not usually considered an evil for your health when taken in moderation, but the goodness of beer is sure to amaze beer lovers. A compound called xanthohumol in the beer is observed to have anti-carcinogenic, anti-oxidation and cardiovascular-protection properties.

During brewing, an ingredient called hops is added to the beer that gives a bitter and tangy taste to it. Hops are the female flower of the hops plant known to have quite some medicinal values. Hops are the source of the compound xanthohumol present in the beer that renders goodness to the beer. These xanthohumol are observed to protect neuronal cells present in the brain and thereby slows down the development of brain disorders, reports Fangs and his team.

The oxidative damage to the neuronal cells is responsible for the development of brain diseases, according to the research, said Fang. Brain defects like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions could be prevented or slowed down by the preventing the oxidative damage to these neuronal cells.

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that causes interruption in memory, thinking and behaviour in a person’s regular life, whereas Parkinson’s disease is a chronic and progressive movement disorder due to the death of vital nerve cells or neurons. No cure has been found for these neurodegenerative diseases so far, and if this research is to be believed, then it is no wonder a joy to the beer brewers and beer lovers.