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Moderate Beer Drinking Could Improve Bone Health Among Women
August 18, 2009

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Research Summary

A study of 1,700 women concluded that those who drank moderate amounts of beer had stronger bones than nondrinkers, although researchers said it might be the plant hormones in the beer at work, not the alcohol.

The BBC reported Aug. 16 that researchers from the University of Extremadura in Caceres, Spain, studied middle-aged volunteers and compared their beer-drinking habits to the results of ultrasound scans of their bones. Women classified as light or moderate drinkers (a maximum of 5 units of alcohol daily) had better bone density than nondrinkers, researchers found.

The study was published in the journal Nutrition (PDF).
This article summarizes an external report or press release on research published in a scientific journal. When available, links to the sources are provided above.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Posted by Mary Muldoone on 18 Aug 09 11:15 AM EDT
Isn't that 5 units a week, rather than a day?

Posted by Hermann T. Meyer on 19 Aug 09 09:54 AM EDT
We are very glad that the beer-lobby has found a new playground. It might be the plant hormones, not the alcohol. But for the media beer is beer. Why didn't they test with alcoholfree beer?

Posted by Unbelievable on 19 Aug 09 10:43 AM EDT
Who paid for this study?

Posted by Pete on 19 Aug 09 01:23 PM EDT
Like many plants, the hops used to make beer contain a variety of plant polyphenols, some of which have antioxidant properties. Research has actually established that ingesting hops seems to raise testosterone a little, but only in women. (Yes, women have small amounts of testosterone.) This might account for the anti-osteoporosis effect, since that hormone has bone-strengthening properties. Ironically, hops actually has a contrary effect in men, so it would be interesting to see if moderate beer drinking actually increases osteoporosis in men.

Posted by Sheila Joyce Gibbs on 19 Aug 09 02:43 PM EDT
Gee, do ya think the Researchers in Spain, want to keep their women plastered ? In the meantime, they're encouraging our teens to follow suit ! May God have mercy on us all...

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