(TDB) - Scientists in China have claimed that drinking beer could help protect the brain from a number of degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

A study published by researchers at Lanzhou University claims that xanthohumol, a flavonoid found in hops, could help protect the brain against the onset of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Flavonoids are a class of compounds found only in plants and xanthohumol is particularly rare with its only known dietary source being hops.

According to Jianguo Fang, who led the research, oxidative damage to neuronal cells is widely believed to be the root cause of the development of degenerative diseases of the brain. Xanthohumol, known for its antioxidant properties, could help guard against this oxidation, potentially helping to slow the development of brain disorders.

Publishing their findings in the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, its authors noted that as xanthohumol is an “active component” in beer, drinking it regularly could have a beneficial effect.

He said: “In traditional Chinese medicine, hops have been used to treat a variety of ailments for centuries. The presence of a high concentration of Xn in beers might be linked to the epidemiological observation of the beneficial effect of regular beer drinking. Xn has attracted considerable interest because of its multiple pharmacological functions, including anti-oxidation, cardiovascular protection, anti-cancer and cancer chemoprevention, antivirus, anti-obesity, and anti-inflammation,” he added.

This is not the first study to hail the benefits of xanthohumol. Last year a group of scientists in Oregon published research claiming the same flavonoid could help improve cognitive function and slow down memory degradation. 

As part of the study a group of young and old mice were put on an eight-week diet of xanthohumol before being put through a series of tests to gauge whether or not the treatment had improved their spatial memory and cognitive flexibility.