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Comments on Hops in Beer
Extracted from The Natural Testosterone Plan by Stephen Harrod Buhner
Hops is best known for its use in beer. The majority of physicians and men overlook its potent chemicals and do not realize that beer itself can significantly alter the male androgen levels. German beer makers noticed long ago that the young women who picked hops in the fields commonly experienced early menstrual periods. Eventually, researchers discovered the reason; hops is perhaps one of the most powerfully estrogenic plants on Earth. Just 100 grams of hops (about 3.5 ounces) contains anywhere from thirty thousand to three hundred thousand IUs of estrogen, depending on the type of hops. Most of it is the very potent estrogen estradiol. Estradiol, as it is taken into the male body, causes a direct lowering of testosterone levels in the testes and an increase in SHBG levels, which then binds up even more free testosterone in the bloodstream. The estradiol in hops has also been found to directly interfere with the ability of the testes Leydig cells to produce testosterone. The presence of this highly estrogenic substance in beer is not an accident.
Prior to the German Beer Purity Act of 1516, beer almost never contained hops. In fact, more than one hundred different plants were used in brewing beer for at least ten thousand years prior to the introduction of hops in the middle ages. For the last thousand years of that period, the most dominant form of beer was called gruit, which contained a mixture of yarrow, bog myrtle, and marsh rosemary. These herbs, especially in beer, are sexually and mentally stimulating. (It is rare to become sleepy when drinking un-hopped beers.) The Catholic Church had a monopoly on the production of gruit, but competing merchants and the Protestants worked together to break their monopoly and force the removal of all sexually stimulating herbs from beer. They replaced them with an herb that puts the drinker to sleep and dulls sexual drive in the male. The legislative arguments of the day all hinged on the issue of the stimulating effects of other herbs that were used in beer. A pilsner, for example, was originally a henbane beer (pilsen means “henbane”), which is an incredibly strong, psychoactive beer, used earlier in history by German berserkers before battle. The German Beer Purity Act was, in effect, the first drug control law ever enacted.
Beer, so highly touted as sexy in television commercials, in actuality can powerfully inhibit sexual strength in men. There is a well known condition in England; Brewers Droop; that occurs from middle-aged brewers; extensive handling of hops plants. The plant chemistries readily transmit through the mens skin just as they did in the young women in the fields. Very few physicians have looked at any correlation between beer drinking and androgen levels or erectile dysfunction problems in their patients. (How many men on Viagra are heavy beer drinkers?) However, the physician Eugene Shippen in The Testosterone Syndrome comments that one of his patients undergoing pharmaceutical testosterone replacement therapy, showed no response to the testosterone until he reduced his beer intake to one or two beers a night from six to seven. Hops is extremely potent and its consumption should be limited if not completely excluded during all androgen replacement therapy. These effects can be exacerbated if the beers you buy also contain licorice (see Licorice section at beginning of chapter), a fact that will not be noted the beer label.
It is possible to buy beer that does not interfere with androgen levels, although it can be somewhat hard to find. Some microbreweries and brew pubs are now making traditional gruits. Check the brew pubs in your town. However, the best source is Bruce Williams, a Scottish Brewer who is bringing back the traditional ales of Europe and especially Scotland (i.e., pre-hopped European beers). He has five in production and they can often be found in larger American cities at any store that carries a wide selection of unusual beers. The heather ale is excellent but perhaps more useful would be the traditional pine ale made from the Scotch pine, Pinus sylvestris, whose pollen contains testosterone.
It is also best to buy beers that are bottle-conditioned. Bottle-conditioned beers are carbonated in the bottle and as such contain live yeasts. These yeasts (most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae) are highly nutritive. They are extremely high in protein, glucose tolerance factor, and B vitamins; especially niacin and B1. Glucose tolerance factor, because it helps regulate blood sugar levels, can help with many of the problems associated with diabetes. Brewers yeast contains the highest levels of glucose tolerance factor of any food. It also has been found to reduce serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels and newer research has indicated that S. cerevisiae yeasts may have direct enhancement impacts on androgen activity in the body.
Hops tastes like ragweed smells
Wow! You are more passionate than I about this!
I must admit though, that I didn’t read your entire post. Too many words!
I’m trying to read the Kavanaugh posts.
Speaking of that, maybe someone should warn Brett about the dangers of beer!