Drinking Beer "For the Good of Humanity"
Thursday June 14, 2007
That's a quote from one of the Cistercian nuns that took part in a recent study of beer's affect on cholesterol. This particular group of nuns, who are usually teetotallers, drank a half liter of beer every day for 45 days then later took daily doses of 400 milligrams of hops for 40 days. In the end cholesterol levels were reduced by the hops by up to 6 points.
Comments
What do you think made more difference: the beer or the hops? It was difficult to tell, from the link to the original study. And what concentration of hops are in beer? How would you know the “hoppiest”–by the IBUs?
I’m just a beer guy and a far cry from a doctor but the article seems to say that the hops are what provide the benefit. IBUs will tell you the comparative bitterness of a beer so this is the easiest measure of a beer’s hoppiness. But the study doesn’t say which part of hops provides the benefits. When hops add bitterness to a beer they are placed in the boil for longer times and some of the chemicals in hops are evaporated away. When hops are used to add aroma to beer they are placed in boil much later so the more delicate parts remain in the beer but not all are broken down and absorbed. So, it’s not clear whether very bitter beers or beers with lots of hops aroma provide the best benefits. If you plan to tackle this problem by drinking beer, make sure that it has both bitterness and significant hops aroma
If cholesterol control is your ultimate goal there are probably better therapies than beer. If you really want the hops benefit you might want to look for a commercially available version of the 400 milligram dosage of pure hops that the nuns were taking.
Got it, thanks! Nope, cholesterol control isn’t a concern–plenty of exercise, veggies, and wine.
(I’m a sommelier). Just curious about the hop question, as I’m learning more about seriously-made beers. Thanks again.