[COHO] Healthy Beer - The Hops Did it

[Huntkng@aol.com]

Something we have always known!   Beer is a healthy beverage so drink up and 
stay in good  health, and good cheer.
 
Beer ingredient may help prevent prostate cancer,  study says 

The Associated Press 
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A main ingredient in beer may help prevent prostate cancer  
and enlargement, according to a new study. 
But researchers say don't rush out to stock the refrigerator because the  
ingredient is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink  
more than 17 beers to benefit. 
Oregon State University researchers say the compound xanthohumol, found in  
hops, inhibits a specific protein in the cells along the surface of the 
prostate  gland. 
The protein acts like a signal switch that turns on a variety of animal and  
human cancers, including prostate cancer. 
Cancer typically results from uncontrolled cell reproduction and growth.  
Xanthohumol belongs to a group of plant compounds called flavonoids, which can  
trigger the programmed cell death that controls growth, researchers say. 
Xanthohumol was first discovered in hops in 1913, but its health effects were 
 not known until about 10 years ago, when it was first studied by Fred 
Stevens,  assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at OSU's College of Pharmacy. 
Last fall, Stevens published an update on xanthohumol in the journal  
Phytochemistry that drew international attention. 
Stevens says it possible for drug companies to develop pills containing  
concentrated doses of the flavonoid found in the hops used to brew beer. 
He also says researchers could work to increase the xanthohumol content of  
hops. 
There are already a number of food supplements on the market containing hops, 
 and scientists in Germany have developed a beer that contains 10 times the  
amount of xanthohumol as traditional brews. The drink is being marketed as a  
healthy beer, but research is still under way to determine if it has any 
effect  against cancer. 
The latest Oregon State University research was published in a recent issue  
of Cancer Letters.
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