This year, the range of hop applications has broadened significantly: As reported by the German pharmaceutical journal Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung (DAZ.online), a manufacturer of food supplements is for the first time launching two pharmacy-only products for the menopause containing hops. Both of these phytoestrogen products are based solely on hop extract. This is a new development, because previously available products used isoflavones from soy or red clover, or from flaxseed lignans.
The topic of “change of life” is going viral and also interests men. The British entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett, for example, has produced several episodes on the subject on his YouTube channel “The Diary of a CEO” which has 7.5 million subscribers. In one of the episodes, Bartlett says that he naturally wants to learn more about the menopause because he would like both to understand his partner better and to promote women’s wellbeing.
The menopause is characterized by hormonal changes. During this time, the levels of the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone fluctuate before finally declining, which causes a wide range of symptoms. The most common among them are sleep disorders, hot flushes, mood swings, joint pains, loss of bone density, which can lead to osteoporosis, and depression. The intensity of the symptoms varies from woman to woman.
The most important active agent in the hop for these symptoms is the phytoestrogen 8-prenylnaringenin (8-PN). 8-PN has a strong affinity to the estrogen receptors in the female body and can alleviate symptoms such as hot flushes and sleep disorders. It works in a similar way to the body’s own estrogen by binding to the same receptors. In addition, xanthohumol and other flavonoids in the hop have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can step in, so to speak, when estrogen levels fall, because estrogen also has anti-inflammatory properties and protects tissue from oxidative damage.
Bartlett’s videos with experts such as the doctor Mary Claire Haver or the neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi show that only little research has been conducted so far on menopause symptoms and therapies and that women’s complaints have tended not to be taken seriously, or to be dismissed as “signs of aging”. This is changing with the baby-boomers and the following generations X and Y: More and more active and self-assured women are reaching menopause.
As a result, it is hoped that a turning point has been reached in gynecology – and at the same time a new field is emerging for hops, whose phytoestrogens are now being used pharmaceutically. That does not mean, of course, that beer may be drunk for therapeutic purposes in future. The recommended daily dose of the food supplements referred to above contain 67mg of hop extract which in turn contains 40µg of 8-PN – a quantity far in excess of what can be reached through beer drinking.
Finally, we’re making a bold leap from change of life to climate change, for change is also coming to the hop garden and the brew house. Once again, we encourage all brewers to switch from sensitive, non-climate-resistant hop varieties to robust new breeds. This will benefit both the hop industry and beer quality. And so, hops will play a part in a “change of life” in the brew house, too. The BarthHaas Brewing Solutions team will be pleased to advise.
