Beer May Boost Bone Health

Silicon is present in beer in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA), which yields 50% bioavailability, making beer a major contributor to silicon intake in the Western diet. As dietary silicon in the form of soluble OSA, may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue, beer may be a significant source of dietary silicon,   Charles Bamforth, from University of California/Davis (California, USA), and colleagues studied commercial beer production to determine the relationship between beer production methods and the resulting silicon content.  The researchers examined a variety of raw material samples and found little change in the silicon content of barley during the malting process. The majority of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting. The malts with the higher silicon contents are pale colored which have less heat stress during the malting process. The darker products, such as the chocolate, roasted barley and black malt, all have substantial roasting and much lower silicon contents than the other malts for reasons that are not yet known. The hop samples analyzed showed surprisingly high levels of silicon with as much as four times more silicon than is found in malt. In that some studies have suggested that moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, the finding by these researchers that “It is confirmed that beer is a very rich source of silicon” takes on a potential importance for preventative health pending further studies into the underlying mechanisms of the bone-boosting properties of beer.