Of Booze and Bones

Liquor has a number of profound effects on the body. Ranging from a warm buzz to sudden lack of consciousness. A recent study released adds another trait from the most common of hops creations.

Beer can help reduce bone loss.

The husks of the hops used in brewing beer contain a soluble silicone known as orthosilic acid or OSA. This substance has been traced to improve the structure of bones and help fight against osteoporosis, says the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Jennifer Warner of WebMD says that of 100 commercial beers tested, the SI levels on average ranged from 6.4 to 56.5 milligrams per liter.

This is great news for people growing older. The mainstream way of obtaining silicon is through foods like apples, cherries, celery and especially whole grains. The trouble with whole grains is that your stomach must be very acidic in order to absorb the OSA, says Faith McGee from eHow, which can be taxing on an aged stomach. Also, most grains are thrashed from the husk, which Dr. Charles Bamford said is the most important part. Dr. Bamford is the chief author of the study and in a segment by Sciencedaily.com he pointed out that it is the brewing process that truly brings out the potential from the grains used. Since brewing uses bits of the husk as well as the hops, greater amounts of OSA are retained in the final product.

Beer has an OSA rating of 50% bioavailability (the ease at which nutrients are absorbed into the body) making it a major contribution to Si intake in the Western diet. However, silicon overdoses can lead to chronic fibrosis of the lungs. So, as always, please drink responsibly.