Beer good for bones
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Beer drinkers now have a good excuse to order another round - the brew may help keep bones strong, a study has found.
Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, have found beer is a rich source of silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis, as dietary silicon is a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.
These were the findings after researchers tested 100 commercial beers for silicon content and categorized the data according to beer style and source.
Previous research has suggested beer contained silicon but little was known about how silicon levels varied with the different types of beer and malting processes.
"We have examined a wide range of beer styles for their silicon content and have also studied the impact of raw materials and the brewing process on the quantities of silicon that enter wort and beer," researcher Charles Bamforth said in a statement.
The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, found the beers' silicon content ranged from 6.4 milligrams per liter to 56.5 mg per liter. The average person's silicon intake each day is between 20 and 50 mgs.
The researchers found there was little change in the silicon content of barley during the malting process as most of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting.
They found pale ales showed the highest silicon content while non-alcoholic beers, light lagers and wheat beers had the least silicon.
"Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon," said Bamforth.
"Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element."
But Bamforth told reporters that the results shouldn't be taken too seriously. The study examined the beers but it did not look at bone mineral density or analyze patients' data.
"I would first consider flavor and whether you like it or not," he told science and technology magazine Discover. "Choose the beer you enjoy, for goodness sake."
- Reuters
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@steve #26 You could be more wrong... but only just! Almost all 'boutique' breweries in NZ use only natural ingredients... water, malt, hops and yeast in the vast majority of instances. A lot use caraageenan (a seaweed product) for clarification/stabilisation in the boiling process. Sometimes unusual ingredients are used in small amounts (e.g. manuka tips, boysenberries, star anise...). These small breweries sometimes use isinglass (a fish byproduct) to clarify their beer after fermentation, if so they must state this on the label... the big breweries, however, use polymers because they don't have to add that to their label! It's unlikely that either will harm you but I know which one I'd rather ingest traces of.
@ Steve (Comment #25) I suggest you substantiate your comments before you post them. It's fine if you believe what you say - but leave those fictitious tidbits of information where they came from: in your fairyland of a brain.
Steve # 26. Good effort mate, but think you will find if you replace the sugar with yeast then you will get a more satisfying drop.
Damn good for recovery after a huge workout too - full of carbs, vitamin B, yeast, sugars etc. At least, that's what I tell myself.
Well at least if people starts binge drinking because of this finding, we will know that the theory of survival of the fittest is working...
Callum #15 i thought i should let you know that 95% of beers in NZ are brewed with only four ingredients, water, barely, hops and sugar so unfortunitly those boutique beers your have been drinking actually have more crap in them cos they dont have to comply with the same restrictions and are done in someones back yard or a vat that has been used for wine
*waits for the PC crowd to turn up and shout about our drinking culture*
bah I cant wait to long im off to the pub!!!
Hmmm, Mr Bamforth pretty much sums up scientists for me when he says "... the results shouldn't be taken too serious" I bet he got a pretty good grant to carry out this 'research'.
Light lager helps keep your arteries clear, now it's the maltier beers that keep your bones strong. I dunno with these guys. Think I'll just stick with Speights (the real stuff, not these Jaffa-designed poofter versions like Summit)
Race ya, Wayne!
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