Beer: Good for your bones

Author: Konstantin Levin

The most important factor in keeping your bones strong is to make sure they get enough calcium. After the age of 35, our bones start losing calcium faster than they can accumulate it, which can lead to osteoporosis, a disease that makes bones fragile. Calcium deficiency can become even more acute if you exercise actively and are trying to build muscle mass. In many cases, muscles will grow at the expense of your bones.

This is why the recent research of a team of Spanish doctors struck us as so interesting. After a series of tests, they determined that female beer drinkers had stronger, denser bones compared to their peers who abstained. More than 1,500 Spanish women took part in the research with an average age of 48 years.

On the whole, the medical community has yet to reach a consensus on the benefits of beer. The issue is that its quality varies drastically on the quality of water used for brewing. If the water is of poor quality, alcohol and phytohormones (plant-based chemicals) in the beer can have harmful effects.

The Spanish researchers found that women who drank little or moderate amounts of beer (up to 280 g of alcohol per week, or the equivalent of 1.25 L of beer daily) had stronger bones than non-drinkers. This conclusion might signify the positive effects of moderate alcohol consumption on health.

Code de Vino disclaimer: poor-quality beer and its excessive and inadequate consumption is harmful to your health.