Good News And Bad News About Beer And Dementia

beer, Good News And Bad News About Beer And DementiaWe’ve been meaning to write about these important new findings …but for some reason we keep forgetting to get to it.

The good news is that drinking beer daily might actually stall mental decline and help you ward off cognitive dangers like Alzheimer’s disease.

Two recent studies, one from the University of Lanzhou, China, the other from the University of Rochester, are reinforcing a growing body of thought that beer contains antioxidants that reduce brain inflammation and flushes out the harmful toxins believed to contribute to cognitive decline.

The University of Lanzhou study that found that Xanthohumol (Xn) which is a hop compound that has already been proven to  contain anti-cancer, anti-oxidation, and heart-protective properties, might also delay or even prevent the onset of dementia and other cognitive decline.

“Hops from dried female clusters of the hop plant are widely used in beers and a few types of soft drinks,” said Dr. Jiangou Fang of Lanzhou University, according to the Daily Mail. “In traditional Chinese medicine, hops have been used to treat a variety of ailments for centuries. The presence of a high concentration of Xn in beers might be linked to the epidemiological observation of the beneficial effect of regular beer drinking.”

Now the bad news…

The University of Rochester study, unfortunately suggests that these cognitive benefits of beer comes with limits, according to The Sun.

Although the mice in the Rochester study who were given the equivalent of two beers (we’re talking lager not Double IPAs) did see less brain inflammation and toxins that booze-free mice “brain function in the mice given the equivalent of six pints was significantly reduced.” (Yah think?)beer, Good News And Bad News About Beer And Dementia

Dr Maiken Nedergaard, of University of Rochester, said that it does appear that ‘low doses of alcohol appear to improve overall brain health,” but he had no opinion as to whether six pints of beer makes people better dancers…

The Alzheimer’s Society’s Dr Clare Walton said: “This is not a green light for people to drink more alcohol.”

And we’ll try to remember that…

 

 

 

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