Super Bowl party-goers, rejoice! We’re not able to vouch for your snack choices, but if your gathering this past weekend was typical for the event, your choice of beverage may have done you some good. As EurekAlert reports, a new study currently published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture indicates that beer builds better bones.
The research, performed and documented by a team lead by Charles Bamforth of The University of California Davis, focuses on the mineral silicon which has been identified as an important contributor to the growth and improved strength of bone and connective tissue. As it turns out, beer contains a form of silicon that is readily available to our systems for absorption and use, and the study authors point to beer as one of the primary sources of the mineral in the Western diet.
Chemical analysis was conducted on not just finished products, but on the ingredients that go into beer making. Silicon is essentially non-existent in wheat, present in variable quantities in barley, and in much more significant quantities in hops, which is an ingredient that is generally used sparingly. The 100 commercially produced beers that were tested yielded silicon concentration results that span from about 6 mg/L to just shy of 60 mg/L.
The biggest benefit to your bones would likely come from selecting those highly hopped brews typical of craft producers. As quoted by EurekAlert, Bamforth explains:
“Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon. Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.”
Further study is certain to be on tap: little work has been conducted on beer as a dietary silicon source prior to the current study. In addition, previous work by the National Institutes of Health suggesting a role for beer in the risk reduction for developing osteoporosis helps make the case for additional study.
Photo courtesy of mccun934 via flickr
