Breaking News – Hops May Help Fight Gum Disease!

We at American Craft Beer have long been advocates of drinking as one way to a healthier life. While some see our non-stop commitment to consuming as much beer as possible wanton debauchery at best, we see it as research. And it seems like almost weekly, there are reports coming out that validate our endeavors.

On the heels of a study that we chronicled earlier this week, that drinking beer might help people lose weight, comes news that a byproduct of beer can lead to better dental health in the future.

Hops – The New Wonder Drug?

Much of the positive heath news associated with beer seems to come from components in the hops. Originally introduced to beer as a preservative, hops fast became the most popular flavoring element in beer, but they also have proven antibacterial qualities that are increasingly being better understood.

According to Popular Science, the natural antiseptic properties of hops were first seen in 1937 when researchers discovered that bacteria couldn’t survive when it was exposed to hop extract. This led to years of scientific exploration:

“Over the next 80 years, researchers identified specific chemicals in hop extracts and tested them to determine if there were any useful antimicrobials. Back in 1949 one of the components of the extract, lupulone, was tested as an antibiotic; it failed. Over a half-century later, however, the same extract proved to be an effective killer of tuberculosis. Another component, xanthohumol, was tested to determine its ability to kill viruses; this time it was quite effective. The same compound was also shown to have an anti-malarial activity.”

Hops and Oral Health

Recently, the hop’s antibacterial benefits are being better understood in world of odontology – the scientific study of the structure and diseases of teeth. Writing for Under The Microscope, Jason Tetro explains:

Through a series of experimental papers published over the last five years, we can understand exactly how hops help. In 2008, a team from Osaka University unveiled a group of chemicals known as polyphenols, which are known to help prevent oral cancer. Based on their experiments, these compounds stopped inflammation and kept gums pink instead of red. In the same year, a team from Nippon Dental University revealed the molecules also halted the development of dental plaque. By 2013, xanthohumol also proved to keep teeth happy and healthy by ensuring that bacteria could not stick to the teeth and gums.

 

Tetro goes on to report that the medicinal qualities of the hop might lie in the leaves of the hop flower (known as bracts), which are commonly discarded from the brewing process, and that recent research might warrant reconsidering their omission:

“In 2007, a team from Tokyo Medical and Dental University demonstrated that bract extract could not only prevent but also remove plaque from teeth. Considering the extracts were safe, there was every indication to believe that incorporating bracts into beer might be an option for better teeth.”

The Future

Who knows what we’ll see come from these hop discoveries in the future – the possibilities seem positively intoxicating! Maybe in a couple of years, we’ll forgo brushing our teeth and just reach for a cold bottle of Russian River Bract Beer instead. Or perhaps Colgate will get in the beer game and introduce hoppy toothpaste or mouthwash – we’d be into that!

We All Have an Important Part to Play

As beer continues to be at the medical forefront of solving problems that have long plagued mankind – we’d like to call on all of you to actively be part of the research. Every beer outing is an opportunity for all of us to study beer’s yet undiscovered heath benefits and every bar is a real-life lab.

As we at ACB know all too well, drinking beer in the name of science takes dedication and resolve – but the upside of participating is enormous. And yes, it can be a lonely life – but it’s so necessary if we’re ever going to fully understand all of beer’s bountiful heath benefits.