The second link says it affects estrogen levels though, which is why I’m confused.
Is this new research?
Edit: the corroborating link the article provides doesn’t really show much about how the study was conducted
Editedit: found what they were citing, but it’s from the 90s, so it’s very much not new, and it doesn’t actually support what the article is claiming.
The studies described in the previous sections strongly support the hypothesis that congeners present in alcoholic beverages can produce measurable estrogenic effects, even at moderate drinking levels. Specifically, those studies found the following:
Alcoholic beverage congeners exerted estrogenic effects both in an experimental animal model and in post-menopausal women.
The estrogenic effects of alcoholic beverage congeners were detectable using a variety of estrogenic markers, including the pituitary hormones LH (in OVEX rats and postmenopausal women), FSH, and prolactin (in postmenopausal women); uterus weight (in OVEX rats); and the estrogen-responsive liver proteins HDL cholesterol and SHBG (in postmenopausal women).
In both the experimental animals and the postmenopausal women, the changes in the levels of all estrogenic markers were consistent with the presence of biologically active phytoestrogens in the congeners.
Red wine congeners and bourbon congeners produced similar estrogenic effects in experimental animals and in postmenopausal women.
Right, so all of this indicates that phytoestrogens indeed do have effects on mice and human estrogen related physiology. The effects can be a little puzzling, though. As I understand it, there are two types of estrogen receptors, Alpha and Beta. And there are many phytoestrogens as well as estrogenic chemicals that we are exposed to, with the one’s in beer binding to Estrogen Receptor Alpha, which signals breast cells and breast cancer cells to proliferate. The binding affinity of the phytoestrogens is weaker than that of the endogenous estrogen. None the less when a given phytoestrogen is bound to a given receptor it gives a slightly weaker estrogen-like signal, and simultaneously prevents the binding of the endogenous estrogen (can’t fit two keys into a single lock at the same time), which has a stronger affinty, and thus stronger effect when it is bound to the receptor. So in an individual with lots of estrogen, the phytoestrogen may lower the estrogenic signal, and in someone with less estrogen it may augment the estrogenic signal in the body. Does that make sense? Do you have questions?
Why does beer keep getting singled out when red wine and bourbon produce similar effects?
Edit: Also a bit peeved, because I’ve got hashimotos and talked to a dietician about diet affecting my hormone troubles, and they assured me plant hormones didn’t have an effect on humans.
No clue, not really sure it’s the case that beer is being singled out. The original post was about beer. We could talk about the other phytoestrogens, and/or other estrogenic chemicals.
I thought phytoestrogens didn’t affect humans?
They dont effect your mammalian estrogen levels, but they do have an effect on you like every chemical you ingest.
The second link says it affects estrogen levels though, which is why I’m confused.
Is this new research?
Edit: the corroborating link the article provides doesn’t really show much about how the study was conducted
Editedit: found what they were citing, but it’s from the 90s, so it’s very much not new, and it doesn’t actually support what the article is claiming.
The studies described in the previous sections strongly support the hypothesis that congeners present in alcoholic beverages can produce measurable estrogenic effects, even at moderate drinking levels. Specifically, those studies found the following:
Alcoholic beverage congeners exerted estrogenic effects both in an experimental animal model and in post-menopausal women.
The estrogenic effects of alcoholic beverage congeners were detectable using a variety of estrogenic markers, including the pituitary hormones LH (in OVEX rats and postmenopausal women), FSH, and prolactin (in postmenopausal women); uterus weight (in OVEX rats); and the estrogen-responsive liver proteins HDL cholesterol and SHBG (in postmenopausal women).
In both the experimental animals and the postmenopausal women, the changes in the levels of all estrogenic markers were consistent with the presence of biologically active phytoestrogens in the congeners.
Red wine congeners and bourbon congeners produced similar estrogenic effects in experimental animals and in postmenopausal women.
Right, so all of this indicates that phytoestrogens indeed do have effects on mice and human estrogen related physiology. The effects can be a little puzzling, though. As I understand it, there are two types of estrogen receptors, Alpha and Beta. And there are many phytoestrogens as well as estrogenic chemicals that we are exposed to, with the one’s in beer binding to Estrogen Receptor Alpha, which signals breast cells and breast cancer cells to proliferate. The binding affinity of the phytoestrogens is weaker than that of the endogenous estrogen. None the less when a given phytoestrogen is bound to a given receptor it gives a slightly weaker estrogen-like signal, and simultaneously prevents the binding of the endogenous estrogen (can’t fit two keys into a single lock at the same time), which has a stronger affinty, and thus stronger effect when it is bound to the receptor. So in an individual with lots of estrogen, the phytoestrogen may lower the estrogenic signal, and in someone with less estrogen it may augment the estrogenic signal in the body. Does that make sense? Do you have questions?
Why does beer keep getting singled out when red wine and bourbon produce similar effects?
Edit: Also a bit peeved, because I’ve got hashimotos and talked to a dietician about diet affecting my hormone troubles, and they assured me plant hormones didn’t have an effect on humans.
No clue, not really sure it’s the case that beer is being singled out. The original post was about beer. We could talk about the other phytoestrogens, and/or other estrogenic chemicals.