Cold, Frosty and Healthy: Researchers Brewing Up a Cancer-Fighting Beer
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Why should wine get all the glory?
Researchers at Rice University in Houston are developing a beer that contains the same heart disease- and cancer-fighting ingredient found in wine, Computer World reported this week.
The six-student research team, led by Taylor Stevenson, a junior at Rice, said the team is using genetic engineering to create a beer that contains resveratrol, the same compound that is said to give red wine its health benefits.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stevenson said the students hope to make the beer even healthier than wine by giving it a larger concentration of resveratrol.
"The idea is that it may have greater effects [in beer than in wine]," he told Computer World. "The amount of red wine you'd need to drink to get the same results ... is about half a bottle a day."
Stevenson said the amount of resveratrol in wine varies from bottle to bottle. The beer, researchers hope, will have higher and more consistent concentrations of the cancer-fighting chemical because it won't be dependent on such factors as grape quality and growing conditions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A study released earlier this month found that drinking red wine may reduce the risk of lung cancer, even in smokers.