Moderate beer consumption: Effects on silicon intake and bone health

Accumulated evidence suggests that dietary silicon (Si) is beneficial for bone and connective tissue health and that higher intakes of dietary Si are associated with higher bone mineral density (BMD) (a proxy for bone health). A major source of Si is whole grain cereals and their products, such as beer, which is brewed from macerated, malted whole grain barley. Beer is a top contributor to Si intake in men and is a source of highly bioavailable Si. Beer also has a modest alcohol content. It is well established that moderate ingestion of alcoholic beverages is associated with increased BMD but mechanisms are unknown. In a recent extensive review (Jugdaohsingh et al. , 2006) we have made a case for ethanol and Si as the two major constituents of alcoholic beverages that can positively influence BMD; the latter being nearly beer-specific. Indeed in a recent report, we showed that the association between moderate beer ingestion and BMD was significantly reduced when a correction was made for Si (Tucker et al. , 2004). This was not seen with the other types of alcoholic beverages (wine and liquor). In more recent detailed analyses (Tucker et al. , 2007 unpublished data) we confirmed these findings and showed that while the major positive effect of moderate beer ingestion on BMD is an ethanol effect, some could be attributed to Si. Thus moderate beer ingestion (1-4 UK units/day) could be advantageous to bone health by providing both an anti-resorptive and an anabolic component, namely ethanol and silicon, respectively.