Myrica Gale (Sweet Gale/Bog Myrtle) and Cancer

[goudvis]

In the book "The Homebrewers Garden" by Joe and Dennis Fisher it is claimed that Sweet Gale is a Dubious Brewing Herb (page 78) due to "Suspected Carcinogen". From wikipedia: "A carcinogen is any substance... that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer."

There is however no reference to any scientific source.
Google "myrica gale cancer" and you'd even find reports of gale showing anticancer activities!

Meanwhile, Gruit is becoming more and more popular, eg Beau's bog water etc.

Should I be worried when brewing with Sweet Gale, or buy Gruit from Beau's?

 

[Talgrath]

Chances are good that the jury is still out on whether or not it is a carcinogen; I've never had a beer with Myrica Gale in it and the info I can find lists it more as an insect repellant than something consumed on a regular basis so its consumption probably hasn't been studied much.

 

[LexusChris]

I've been using sweet gale in several recipes and have not run across any herbal sites saying that it will cause cancer. It is certainly a brewing herb used in Europe over the centuries, so authentic by many accounts.

However, I doubt you will ever drink enough sweet gale in beer to cause a health problem. Most substances have toxicity levels and all that, but a few grams of myrica gale in an occasional batch of gruit will do you no harm.. IMHO..

--LexusChris

 

[goudvis]

My thought exactly.

Sweet gale was the base of every beer recipe in ancient Europe before hops were discovered. It was even used as a form of currency due to it's value. This does of course not say anything about cancer, people had more lethal health risks back then.

The controversy I find confusing is the fact that this herb is sold commercially for consumption in serveral forms, tea for instance: http://www.algonquintea.ca/our-teas/lucid-dream

Maybe I should ask the author of the book if I reaaaly want to know more.

I also wonder how this carcinogen compares to other unhealthy materials we expose ourselves to, eg using brass, copper, aluminum, pvc in our brew equipment.

 

[Ryan Golden]

Reviving this old thread because whenever I see a question like this somewhere I never see the most carcinogenic item mentioned, the alcohol itself, it's listed as a group 1 "known" carcinogen and is in a much higher concentration than any other "possible" or "probable" carcinogen in your beer.

I have heard people try to explain their non-GMO liquor purchases before on the grounds that they were worried about cancer, which is bizarre to me, so it seemed worthy of a mention in this context.