Attention Submariners: Why Porter, Stout and Ales Could Be Good Us!

Research at Oregon State University shows that beer contains a micronutrient that inhibits cancer-causing enzymes: Beer's hops seen to inhibit tumor growth

Fred Stevens, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at Oregon State's College of Pharmacy. A chemical compound, Xanthohumol, was first isolated by Oregon State 10 years ago and now laboratories across the world are increasingly studying the compound which comes from the hops plant used to give beer its aroma and flavor. "It clearly has some interesting chemo-preventive properties, and the only way people are getting any of it right now is through beer consumption," Stevens said.

Most beers made today are low on hops, however, and so don't contain much xanthohumol. But beers such as porter, stout and ales have much higher levels of the compound. Xanthohumol was actually first discovered in 1913, isolated as a yellow substance found in hops. Xanthohumol also appears to have a role as a fairly powerful antioxidant - even more than vitamin E. And it has shown the ability to reduce the oxidation of LDL, or bad cholesterol.

Stevens and toxicologist Don Buhler, began to look at the compound from another perspective - its anti-cancer properties. It showed toxicity to human breast, colon and ovarian cancer cells, and most recently has shown some activity against prostate cancer in OSU studies. Read more here and at Cancer Chemopreventive Activity of Xanthohumol, a Natural Product Derived from Hop here.