Posted on 01/04/2018 6:10:03 PM PST by SJackson
Benjamin Franklin famously said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Science has proved him correct … still.
A team of German scientists examined more than 13,000 molecular food compounds, looking for substances that may activate dopamine receptors in the same way that actual dopamine does.
In other words, food that makes you happy.
They found one in beer, a drink so noble that it is thought that beer was the nectar of the gods sipped by the Greek god Zeus from his goblet.
"Drink. Be merry," commanded Zeus, or at least that's what author Giando Sigurani quotes Zeus as saying, and that's good enough for us.
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Sigurani makes perfect sense because the Greeks invented philosophy, democracy and fermentation — or beer — which all tend to attract people with time on their hands.
And that leads us back to our German scientists and their beer and happiness study.
Key ingredient in beer
As the six German scientists meticulously worked their way through their 13,000 molecular food compounds, they discovered that malted barley — a key ingredient in beer — is loaded with hordenine.
Hordenine activates dopamine receptors in the brain.
Hordenine also triggers a process called "hedonic hunger," which makes humans want to eat or drink for pleasure, as opposed to simply feeding because you're hungry or thirsty.
That sends feel-good chemicals — dopamine — to the decision-making bit of your brain, the German scientists found.
"Based on its presence in beer, we suggest that hordenine significantly contributes to mood-elevating effects of beer," the study's authors say.
Generally, the scientific method leads us toward what we thought we would find when we started our quest. However …
"It came as a bit of a surprise that a substance in beer activates the dopamine D2 receptor," said Professor Monika Pischetsrieder, the study's lead author.
The study's title is catchy: "Identification of the Beer Component Hordenine as Food-Derived Dopamine D2 Receptor Agonist by Virtual Screening a 3-D Compound Database." The scientists are from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nurnberg.
"Bioactive food components with the potential to modulate dopaminergic pathways may be able to change the rewarding properties of food," the study says.
The study says lots and lots of stuff like that.
However, it also warns that all that glitters is not golden lager.
"Hordenine is a natural constituent of barley and, in particular, beer, a food that is often linked to alcohol abuse," the scientists warn.
How Beer Saved the World:
https://vimeo.com/23278902
C2H5OH...you assholes.
Ein prosit, ein prosit, Gemutlichkeit!
If only Hitler drank beer.
People do a lot of things such as drink alcoholic beverages because it makes them feel better... for the moment.
The Greeks did not invent beer.
Danke schön, Kapitän Offensichtlich.
Danke schön, Kapitän Offensichtlich.
Wunderbar! Fantastiche! Prost!
Ach so! Du hast gluck bei den frauen!
Ach so! Du hast gluck bei den frauen!
I just cannot believe somebody funded this research. Next they will fund research into the notion that water might make things wet.
Just think how sad he would otherwise become.
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