Indian scientists develop beer that protects your liver

http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=41385

Indian scientists make wonder lipstick, medicinal beer

[Health India]: Lucknow, Nov 7 : A wonder lipstick with a sensuous edge that could also lessen user fatigue could be in the market soon.

Keeping it company could be a beer that would protect the liver, yet giving the kind of kick that the ordinary lager gives its drinkers.

The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here developed these and many other products applying India's traditional herbal cure wisdom to modern pharmacology as part of a special drive of its ethno-pharmacology division, says P. Pushpangadan, its director.

There are other products like a herbal soft drink and compact herbal nutritional foods, Pushpangadan told IANS.

The totally herbal lipstick has its basis in aromas that penetrate the skin and allow subdermal absorption of chemical elements, says Pushpangadan.

"Lips are most sensitive to subdermal absorption and could, therefore, be used as the best medium to stimulate the human brain," he said.

Pushpangadan, who believes the 21st century will be the age of ayurveda, said his scientists are currently researching several other herbs and plants that find a mention in ancient works like the Vedas and the Bhrigu Samhita.

The scriptures were translated for the researchers, he said.

The team was also hopeful of finding herbal cures for several chronic ailments.

"Currently we are working on certain herbs which, if grown during off season, acquire certain medicinal properties," Pushpandgadan said.

"For instance, spinach grown in summer could come in handy to cure certain serious diseases," he pointed out.

Having traced the history of beer to 2,000 years ago, Pushpangadan said, "It was not difficult to work out a potion that would taste like normal beer and yet be different from the conventional barley-based beer".

"This beer is an anti-oxidant liver protective and has tremendous cooling properties," he said, while offering a glassful of the fresh brew in the lab next door.

The scientists have developed a granular food, which they claim has special properties to enhance children's IQ level.

Alarmed by a study that drew his attention to the consistently falling IQ level among 80 percent of Uttar Pradesh children, Pushpangadan got down to developing a herbal powdered food that could enhance their IQ level.

"Normally, the foetal brain begins to grow from the third month of pregnancy and reaches an optimum level by the age of two-and-a-half years," he points out.

Malnutrition of expectant and feeding mothers was the key factor behind this trend of declining IQ level, Pushpangadan felt. "Now this new food, that was based on Amaranthus and other conventional herbs could save both mothers and the kids from malnutrition," he said.

Interestingly, the food tastes quite like any of the baby foods produced and marketed by multinationals.