Cancer-fighting agent found in beer

A key ingredient of beer may contain a cancer-fighting substance, a German study indicated.

Studies indicated xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a family of enzymes that can trigger the cancer process, as well as help the body detoxify carcinogens, science newswire Ivanhoe reported Monday. Preliminary studies at Oregon State University show that xanthohumol can kill breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers.

"It's very healthy. I think the ingredients in the beer are very good," Werner Back of Brewing Technology at the Technical University of Munich.

Xanthohumol contains more powerful antioxidants than vitamin E and some studies indicate it helps reduce oxidation of bad cholesterol, the newswire reported.

"Xanthohumol has been shown to be a very active substance against cancer," said Markus Herrmann , also in Munich. "It comes in small sticky beads, which you find within the hops."

But don't frost that mug just yet. It would take 60 regular beers to equal the amount of xanthohumol German researchers are able to brew in their one super beer.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International