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Okayama (pte025/20.01.2005/11:10) - Non-alcoholic beer could help prevent cancer, a recent study on lab mice suggests. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, mice given the beer while exposed to cancer-causing chemicals had 85 per cent less damage to their liver, lungs and kidneys than those given water. According to the team from Okayama University in Japan http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp , there may be compounds in it which prevents the carcinogenic compounds binding to cells.
However, the study did not mean that alcoholic beer had the same effect, researcher Sakae Arimoto-Kobayashi said. "The total benefits and risks of beer with alcohol are still under consideration," he said. According to Kobayashi, if the contents of non-alcoholic beer, which were potentially protecting the mice, could be identified, they could be added to food and drink to help reduce the risk of cancer.
According to Helen Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, people must not interpret the research as encouragement for drinking more alcohol. "We would not encourage anyone to drink more beer with the aim of preventing cancer as alcohol has been proven to have some detrimental health effects." Although Shovelton applauded the study, others were less positive. "As beer is a complex mixture of nutrients, this study adds very little to our knowledge of which compounds might be useful in preventing cancer. In addition, this research is not directly relevant to humans as it was conducted in mice," said Lesley Walker, Director of Cancer Information at Cancer Research UK. Heavy alcohol consumption causes around six per cent of all cancers in western countries.
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