Drinking a pint of beer might be good for your brain. According to a new research, a particular element found in beer makes the brain sharper.
Past researches have shown that certain flavonoids found in red wine, blueberries and dark chocolate help in better memory power.
In the current study, conducted on mice, the researchers found that xanthohumol, a kind of flavonoid found in beer, helps enhance cognitive function. Researchers also found that the positive effects of the flavonoid were only found in young mice and it failed to have any impact on older mice.
"This particular flavonoid found in beer and the ones in red wine or blueberries should be studied closer," researchers wrote in the study. "Since the dose given to mice was quite high, we do not suggest people should switch over to beer to sharpen brains," the scientists said. The paper appeared in the journal Behavioral Brain Research.
The amount of beer used in the study was quite high and the researchers caution that further studies need to be done to take the matter further.
According to WebMD, beer is used to prevent heart diseases, improve the circulatory system, atherosclerosis, heart failure, heart attack and stroke. Apart from this, it is also helpful in reducing the mortality risk associated with heart attack and from another heart condition called ischemic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.
Moreover, beer can also help prevent decline in thinking skills in later life, Alzheimer's disease, weak bones, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney stones, prostate cancer, breast cancer and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. H. pylori is the bacterium that causes ulcers.
