Remember when we told you that beer makes men smarter? Well, things just got even better.

Johnan Auwerx, head researcher from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland, said experiments using mice uncovered that the "miracle molecule" found in milk, might also be present in beer.

The molecule, nicotinamide riboside (NR), has no damaging side effects, but quite conversely, has been shown to help improve muscle strength, fight obesity, and lengthen lifespan.

The team from Switzerland worked with Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, and found that mice on a high-fat diet that were fed NR gained 60% less weight than those that were without the NR supplements. Kind of refutes the whole beer belly stigma, but hey, maybe we just need to find a way to jack up the NR content and we’ll all be in the clear.

Many of the mice without the NR developed diabetes, while very few that were on the NR supplements did. Their muscle fibers also appeared to be stronger, and they performed better during endurance tests.

Although researchers are unsure of the exact amount in milk or beer, they’re on their way to figuring that out, and things are definitely lookin up for those of us who enjoy a few cold ones every now and again.

The moral of the story is – if you’re not checking the KegWorks blog on the regular, then you need to start, because we’re pretty much overflowing with good beer news, and ya’ll need to recognize.

TAGS [ Beer | Health ]