Everyone knows milk is good for your bones, but it turns out a tall glass of beer might do the trick as well. A new study by researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis suggests that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.
The researchers studied commercial beer production to determine the relationship between beer production methods and the resulting silicon content and concluded that beer is indeed a rich source of dietary silicon. Silicon is present in beer in a form that yields 50% bioavailability, which makes beer a major contributor to silicon intake in the Western diet.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says dietary silicon may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue. Because of that, previous studies have suggested that moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, but the silicon content of beer has never been thoroughly evaluated until now, according to the researchers.
Just in case you get carried away, remember that beer isn’t the only source of dietary silicon. Others include oatmeal, dried dates, granola cereal and high-fiber wheat bran cereal.
