Free Republic

Researcher Addis Alemayehu with collected coffee cherries drying on a wire mesh. A research group in Ethiopia studied production methods and bean processing methods of Arabica coffee to determine which factors influenced the flavor the most. Credit: Fikadu Ejigu But is it the type of bean, the way it is grown—or the way it is processed that makes the most of every last drop of coffee? Researchers recently published a paper about this question in Agrosystems, Geosciences and Environment journal. The journal is a publication of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. Addis Alemayehu...

Got a cold? Treat yourself to a cold one. A new study, reports Agence France-Presse, suggests that a chemical compound in beer can help the human body fight the virus behind the common cold. Of course, there are some important caveats. First, the study was conducted and published by Sapporo Breweries, a Japanese beer manufacturer, through its Sapporo Medical University. And secondly, an adult would have to drink about 30 cans of beer to get enough humulone, the compound said to have anti-viral properties. The humulone found in hops, one of beer's three main ingredients, gives the alcoholic drink its...

Beer ingredient may fight prostate cancerMon Jun 12, 7:50 AM ET Two pints of beer are seen in a London pub. A report drawn up for the European Commission suggested slapping health warnings on alcoholic drinks along the lines of those now common on tobacco products.(AFP/File/Carl De Souza) CORVALLIS, Ore. - A main ingredient in beer may help prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to a new study. But researchers say don't rush out to stock the refrigerator because the ingredient is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink more than 17 beers to benefit....

Licorice ingredient ferrets out herpes Nathan Seppa A compound in licorice homes in on lab-grown cells infected with a herpes virus and induces them to self-destruct, a new study finds. These results suggest that a drug based on the compound could seek and destroy herpes viruses hiding in people's bodies. Current antiherpes drugs attack the virus only when it's causing symptoms. The virus in the new study is Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which causes skin and lymph cancers. The researchers suspect that the gene responsible for KSHV's capacity to hide out is latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). Researchers at New York...