Supplemental Beer Blogging: Prostate Edition

teh
Man, there’s been a lot of beer news lately. I first heard the latest on WUIS this morning: Beer can help prevent prostate cancer –if you drink yourself to death.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A chief ingredient in beer shows potent promise in preventing prostate cancer and prostate enlargement, according to a new study by Oregon State University researchers.

The research, published in a recent issue of Cancer Letters, shows that xanthohumol, a compound found in hops, inhibits NF-kappaB protein in cells along the surface of the prostate gland, said Emily Ho, assistant professor of nutrition and exercise sciences in OSU's College of Health and Human Sciences and a researcher with OSU's Linus Pauling Institute.

The protein acts like a signal switch that turns on a variety of animal and human malignancies, including prostate cancer.

OK, but here’s the bad news (or good news if REALLY like beer):

Xanthohumol is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink more than 17 beers to consume the same amount found effective in the study…

That’s 17 beers per day. That might be bit over some folk’s limit. On the other hand, it may account for the low rate of prostate cancer among college students.

Update: Maybe if you drink some coffee with those 17 beers.