​Can Beer Prevent Alzheimer’s – That Is the Question?

It’s always interesting to follow new research findings. The latest question is, can drinking beer prevent Alzheimer’s? Some new research seems to indicate that it can.

In an article in the New York Daily News entitled, Drink beer to ward off Alzheimer’s: study, Meredith Engel stated:

“We may be a hop, skip and a jump from warding off neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's.

“An ingredient in beer hops, xanthohumol (also known as Xn) has been shown to protect the brains of mice from cell damage.”

Such a statement came out of the results of recent research by Jianguo Fang and his colleagues who reported their findings in an article for the American Chemical Society. Their recommendation is,

“To get the benefits of Xn, all it takes is a daily intake of products containing Xn, such as beer.”

Can Drinking Beer Prevent Alzheimer’s or Bring It On?

The key seems to be “moderation,” especially where beer and alcohol are concerned.

Where moderate drinking of beer to prevent Alzheimer’s may be beneficial, heavy beer and alcohol drinking has the exact opposite effect. Suzanne L. Tyas, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and who is associated with the Kentucky School of Public Health, University of Kentucky, stated in an article that she wrote:

“Heavy drinking accelerates shrinkage, or atrophy, of the brain, which in turn is a critical determinant of neurodegenerative changes and cognitive decline in aging (Meyer et al. 1998).”

What Other Research Is Revealing

With the extensive research that is now taking place concerning epigenetics, significant new information has come to the surface concerning how to prevent Alzheimer’s. Dr. Alfredo Galvez, Ph.D., the researcher who discovered the benefits of the soy peptide, lunasin, and is currently the Director of Research at the Missouri Plant Science Center and the Lead

Scientific Advisor for Soy Labs LLC, stated on his Facebook page:

“Science has now revealed that epigenetic modifications of genes found in specific regions of the brain play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. This study provides a new understanding of reversible epigenetic mechanisms involved in the onset of dementia, besides genetic predispositions due to gene sequence variations. By identifying regions of the brain epigenome that are altered as people age and develop the disease, researchers are hopeful that this may lead to novel preventive and therapeutic treatments against Alzheimers using bioactive agents with epigenome-reversing functions.”

And as Dr. Galvez stated, epigenetic mechanisms are reversible. To learn more about Dr. Galvez and his research with epigenetics, you can follow him on Facebook.

So, can drinking beer prevent Alzheimer’s? Only more research will tell for sure. In the meantime, moderate beer drinking seems to be beneficial.