eer is not exactly the very first thing that involves mind when people consider foods and drinks which may be helpful for health. But a team of researchers has now found that a compound in beer hops may offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Of their work, published within the American Chemical Society’s ACS Chemical Neuroscience, researchers had a better take a look at the “chemical variability” of 4 common hop varieties: Cascade, Saaz, Tettnang and Summit.

One among the aspects that make AD so difficult to treat is the “time lag” of several years that is between the biological processes of the disease and the onset of symptoms, ACS explained in a news release. By the point the person realizes they might have the disease, “irreversible damage” can have already occurred.

“On this scenario, the prevention of AD quite than treatment can represent a very important strategy,” the researchers wrote. “Among the many preventive interventions, eating regimen is some of the promising ones since the intake of foods or nutraceuticals containing natural molecules can interfere with key biochemical events underlying aging in each physiological and pathological conditions.”

“Nutraceuticals” are foods or parts of food which have medical or health advantages. And hop, one among the fundamental ingredients of beer, can interrupt the gathering of amyloid beta proteins linked with AD. Further, previous studies showed that consuming bitter hop acids can improve “cognitive function, attention, and mood in older adults.”

Researchers have now found the hop extracts actually had antioxidant properties and should prevent the clumping of amyloid beta proteins in human nerve cells, with the “most successful” variety being Tettnang.

“(W)e fractionated the extracts to discover a pool of molecular components mainly liable for their neuroprotective motion,” the researchers wrote. “In accordance with our data, they’re feruloyl and p-coumaroylquinic acids, flavan-3-ol glycosides, and procyanidins.”

The hop extracts also prevented cell death on account of oxidative stress, the researchers noted. And once they tested the Tettnang extract activity on a C. elegans worm model, it actually protected the creatures from “AD-related paralysis,” although the effect was “not very pronounced.”

While this doesn’t suggest people have an excuse to drink numerous their favorite hoppy beer, it shows hop’s potential as a nutraceutical for AD.

“Our results show that hop is a source of bioactive molecules with synergistic and multitarget activity against the early events underlying AD development,” the researchers added. “We are able to subsequently consider its use for the preparation of nutraceuticals useful for the prevention of this pathology.”