Xanthohumol is the antioxidant in beer hops. Xanthohumol has many great health effects. About 10 years ago at Oregon State University, researchers discovered the cancer fighting benefits in the antioxidant. Xanthohumol was first discovered in 1913, but never really recieved a huge amount of attention until the last 10 or so years. The only attention Xanthohumol recieved was due because of the beer hops. Brewers were interested in the way it affected the taste and bitterness of the beer they were making.
Researchers became very interested in the antioxidant when it started to render cancer fighting results in lab studies. Xanthohumol was hostile towards tumors of the breast. It also was detrimental to colon and ovarian cancer cells.
Xanthohumol has been shown to reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol, also know as LDL. In some cases the antioxidant has shown to be more potent than the antioxidant properties of vitamin E.