A new study has found that there’s an amazing compound in beer that might actually help you lose weight.
According to Men’s Fitness, researchers at Oregon State University discovered that hops contain a compound called xanthohumol, an all-natural flavonoid.
Xanthohumol is an antioxidant that can typically be found in blueberries, apples, garlic, dark chocolate, tea, and much more.
In the study, which was recently published in Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, mice were put on a high-fat diet and given various levels of xanthohumol.
As Men’s Fitness reports, the groups of mice consumed 0, 30, or 60 mg of xanthohumol per kg of body weight, each day, for 12 weeks.
Surprisingly enough, the mice that ingested the highest levels of xanthohumol during the experiment saw an 80 percent drop in LDL (bad) cholesterol, a 42 percent decrease in insulin, and inflammation by 78 percent.
Even more, the mice that consumed 60mg of xanthohumol seemed to experience a serious metabolism boost that helped control their weight.
"This is the first time we've seen one compound with the potential to address so many health problems," lead study author Cristobal Miranda said in a press release.
While a lot more research needs to be done before health experts can actually pinpoint the benefits of xanthohumol in humans, this may be just the news beer lovers have been waiting for.
"Work is still needed to further demonstrate the safety of high doses of xanthohumol, but dosages 15-30 times higher than we used have already been given to animals with no apparent problems," said co-author Fred Stevens.
