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A study of a range of beers has found that beer contains high levels of silicon, suggesting that it could be a dietary source of the element, although the study looked only at silicon content and did not directly investigate potential dietary implications.
Dr Claire Bowring, National Osteoporosis Society, said:
“These findings mirror results from previous studies which concluded that moderate alcohol consumption could be beneficial to bones. However, while the National Osteoporosis Society welcomes measures to improve bone health we do not recommend anyone increases their alcohol consumption on the basis of these studies. While low quantities of alcohol may appear to have bone density benefits, higher intakes have been show to decrease bone strength, with an alcohol intake of more than 2 units per day actually increasing the risk of breaking a bone. There are also many other health concerns linked with alcohol which cannot be ignored.”
Catherine Collins, Dietician, St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust, said:
“Silicon is one of those elements for which there is no RNI (UK RDA) as so little is needed it is hard to prove deficiency. Sources of silicon do include beer – either alcohol-containing or alcohol-free – and it’s also added as an anti-caking agent to powders such as baking powder, and is found in different amounts in water (so contributes to beer’s total silica content).
“Although this study is of interest, beer drinking is not really relevant in terms of bone health. Silica may well contribute to bone health but in a minor way: it is not really significant compared with nutrients that we know are essential for bone health and are potentially deficient in the UK diet – such as calcium and vitamin D. In fact, beer provides little calcium compared to water or other liquid sources (milk) because of the finings used to clear beer. In addition, there is some concern that the diuretic effect of larger volumes of beer may contribute to urinary calcium losses. However, alcohol in single unit amounts is useful in helping FMD (flow-mediated dilatation), helping maintain blood vessel patency, obviously essential in delivering nutrients to the living tissue that is bone.
“The bottom line is that this is an interesting study but of little clinical relevance at the moment; calcium and vitamin D are phenomenally more important than silica in maintaining bone health, along with weight bearing exercise. Silica is needed in such minute amounts that it is difficult to separate out beer from dietary sources as contributing much advantage in the UK diet. Plus, alcohol dose per pint of beer may confer greater advantage in terms of vascular health, and therefore nutrient delivery, compared to the amount of silica and its mooted benefits. A pint would give you the 6mg+ that may well be useful but the alcohol content and health concerns limits the recommendations to drink more!”