The answer, it would seem, is simple – Love! In fact, it’s much more complicated than that. I’m afraid to talk about human relationships at all. Many things are confusing and illogical here. It would seem that an ideal woman, and there are no feelings for her, except admiration. And between an “ordinary”, unremarkable woman and you there is suddenly a connection like a welding arc. How to explain it – I do not know …
It’s a little easier with beer. We all know that ” Beer is further proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!” Love for beer is also difficult to decompose, but scientists around the world are trying.
For example, the University of Nuremberg (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nurnberg), analyzed 13,000 food ingredients to determine whether they activate the brain’s pleasure center. The winner was unexpectedly chordenine (Hordenine), an ingredient in barley malt and beer.
There are products that make us happy, or at least are thought to make us happy. In technical language, such foods are called “hedonistic foods.” There is a complex biochemical process behind it. When such foods are eaten, certain areas of the brain in which the Dopamine D2 receptor is located are activated.
Researchers in the Department of Food Chemistry at FAU, asked themselves: are there any specific ingredients in foods that activate the dopamine receptor? Together with colleagues at FAU’s Center for Computational Chemistry, they used a virtual screening method. It is used in pharmaceutical research. During virtual screening, food ingredients are examined not in the laboratory but on a computer. In this way, unlike classical screening methods, researchers can examine all possible existing food ingredients rather than a small number.
First, the scientists created a virtual database of 13,000 molecules found in food products. From this database, it was necessary to find those molecules that corresponded to the dopamine D2 receptor-the corresponding “keyhole keys”. The computer began to calculate which molecules were likely to interact with the dopamine D2 receptor. Out of 13,000, only 17 were chosen, and the research continued with them.
The most promising test results showed the substance hordenine, a component of barley malt and beer. Like dopamine, hordenine activates the dopamine D2 receptor with one important difference: it works via a different signaling pathway. Hordenine, unlike dopamine, activates the receptor exclusively via so-called G-proteins, which can lead to a longer lasting effect on the pleasure center.
German researchers have once again confirmed that in addition to its many therapeutic properties, Beer is an inexhaustible source of happiness for all of us, and it’s great!
