Beer Prevents Alzheimer's

Chinese Scientists Confirm What We Always Knew Deep Down - Beer Is Good For Your Brain

Good news everyone! A group of Chinese scientists has determined what you always knew, deep down in your heart: beer is good for the brain. 

Specifically, Xanthohumol, a chemical present in hops, has shown to be have the potential to fight off neurogenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Five scientists (Juan Yao, Baoxin Zhang, Chunpo Ge, Shoujiao Peng, and Jianguo Feng) isolated the compound and tested its effects on cells from rats. They observed a “previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the biological action of Xn,” which suggests that Xanthohumol “might be a potential candidate for the prevention of neurogenerative disorders.”

To extrapolate slightly, though the language is somewhat cautious and stresses that this is only a potential inhibitor of Alzheimer’s, I think the subtext is pretty clear. What they’re saying is “You. You there. Are you drinking a beer right now? No? Well then, you’re being negligent towards your future mental health.”

This isn’t a sure thing, but if it is, the big winners in this would presumably be IPAs, which usually have somewhere between two to five times as many hops as regular beers. Ales in general are a good choice, but stay away from white ales or light lagers: It’s what Einstein would have wanted.

It’s worth pointing out that hops have long been believed to have health benefits, and are used for some traditional forms of medicine. We’ve been pointing out the health benefits of beer for some time now, and have been proponents of some good ol’ healthy beer drinking. Recently, I even wrote about beer that’s supposed to make you a better problem solver.

Now some of this might seem counterintuitive, because of course, crack open enough “Budzheimers” in a night, and you might find your brain and memory function don’t work very well the next day. But that’s a small price to pay for protection against degenerative brain conditions.

If you want to find the study, check it out here. Best part is that it seems to come from an actual legitimate science journal, not one of the countless scam ones out there. Drink up — as if you needed another excuse.