A one-of-a-kind non-alcoholic and healthier beer has been created for women being treated for breast cancer.
Mamma Beer, made by a Czech company, aims to help women going through chemotherapy whose sense of taste has been changed by a condition called dysgeusia.
The drink is designed to taste sweeter and has no alcohol but contains nutrients and vitamins to help people recover from the gruelling treatment.
Mamma Beer has been introduced to oncology wards and beer festivals across the Czech Republic and creators hope it will catch on.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, affecting one in eight women, and around 55,200 people are diagnosed each year – dysgeusia is a side effect of the drug treatment which many patients endure.
Czech breast cancer support group Mamma Help has designed its own beer especially for women having chemotherapy, and is distributing it among oncology wards and beer festivals in the country
Mamma Help, a Czech-based campaign group for women with breast cancer, invented the beer to help women going through treatment.
Chemotherapy is known to cause weakness, nausea and hair loss, but it can also lead to a condition called dysgeusia.
People with dysgeusia have a distorted sense of taste and it can make food taste bland, off or metallic.
The non-alcoholic Mamma Beer is designed to be sweeter than a normal beer and is packed with nutrients, allowing breast cancer patients to see it as a treat.
‘Food would taste dull and sandy with dysgeusia’
Mamma Help CEO Jana Drexlerova, who experienced dysgeusia when she had her own cancer treatment in 2011, said foods would taste dull and sandy, so she and fellow survivor Tereza Sverakova started work on a beer-based product.
Ms Drexlerova said: ‘We are pleased that the oncologists who have been cooperating with us for a long time have supported us and recommended the beer to our patients.
‘The beer was also introduced at several beer festivals – they are very popular here.
Mamma Beer is aimed at women who suffer from a condition called dysgeusia, in which the sense of taste is distorted during chemotherapy
The non-alcoholic drink, which contains vitamins and nutrients, was invented by Mamma Help’s CEO Jana Drexlerova, who went through chemo herself and said food tasted dull and sandy
Mamma Beer’s creators say they were ‘surprised’ by good feedback from the public and beer experts and hope the drink will catch on
‘We were surprised by the great interest in the beer’
‘We wanted to know the public opinion and were surprised by the great interest and the taste of the beer was praised even by beer experts.’
Chemotherapy patients would taste beer as being extremely bitter, Ms Drexlerova said, so they set out to make a beverage that was aimed specifically at women, contained a number of nutrients and vitamins, had no alcohol, and was sweeter than a regular beer, overcoming the bitterness issue.
Some of the profits will assist women with breast cancer
Mamma Beer is produced by the Zatec Brewery, based around 40 miles outside Prague.
Ms Drexlerova added: ‘We are now looking for ways to produce and distribute Mamma Beer in sufficient quantity to make it affordable for cancer patients.
‘And, of course, we also expect part of the proceeds from beer sales to support our activities – psychological and social assistance for women with breast cancer.’