Metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X is a health problem that affects a considerable percentage of adults worldwide and shows the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, strokes and other diseases. Now, a team of researchers from the Oregon State University (USA) states that a flavonoid found in hops, one of the essential ingredients in beer, could reduce weight gain and improve markers of metabolic syndrome.
Experiment with laboratory mice
Scientists found that specific intake levels of a natural component of hops, xanthohumol, improved markers of metabolic syndrome in laboratory mice. Thus, to analyze which levels of xanthohumol had a positive effect on metabolic syndrome, the researchers gave a group of laboratory mice varying levels of this flavonoid, which were fed a high-fat diet.
The results showed that the highest dose of xanthohumol caused an 80% reduction in their LDL – or “bad” cholesterol , compared to the animals that did not receive this substance. Additionally, their insulin levels dropped by 42%, and their levels of IL-6, a biomarker of inflammation, dropped by 78%.
As the mice were being fed an excessively large and fatty diet, it would have been normal for all the mice to have gained equal weight. However, those who were fed the hops component of the beer gained 22% less weight than the others. All the mice had eaten the same amount of food and the same type.
Experts believe that xanthohumol increases oxygen consumption and metabolic rate , which would explain this differential in weight control.
“This is the first time that we have seen a compound with the potential to tackle so many health problems. They were very dramatic improvements , ”says Cristobal Miranda, study leader.
Applicable to humans?
However, the researchers warn that this discovery does not mean a free pass to drink all the beer that we want, since the doses used in the experiment were very clear: 60 mg per kg of body weight per day, which would be the human equivalent of 350 mg for a person weighing 70 kg per day, or what is the same, 3,500 liters of beer per day to obtain the correct intake used in the study, which is neither physically nor conveniently possible.
What would be plausible would be the manufacture of a dietary supplement that would provide us with these amounts: “The work still needs to further demonstrate the safety of high doses of xanthohumol, but doses 15-30 times higher than those we have already used are they have given the animals without apparent problems ”, explains Fred Stevens, co-author of the work.
The study has been published in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics journal.
