Your mom was always there reminding you, “drink your milk, it will give you strong bones.”  But mom never said anything about beer and wine.  What gives?

While mom was (and still is) right about milk, there is new evidence, thanks to Tufts University, that both beer and wine improve the bone density of both men and women.

Researchers at Tufts have published results from a study suggesting that men and postmenopausal women who drank 1 to 2 drinks a day of wine, or beer, had improved bone mineral density.  When compared with nondrinkers, the bone density was higher in men and women by 4.5% and 8.3%, respectively.  “Research suggests that moderate alcohol consumption in older men and post-menopausal women may protect against bone mineral density loss, a major risk factor for osteoporosis,” says Katherine Tucker, PhD, director of the Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts.

The authors theorize that beer may benefit bones because it is especially high in silicon, a trace mineral that promotes bone formation, and wine which is rich in phytochemicals and resveratrol, an antioxidant shown to protect against bone loss in animal studies.

So what should we take away from the fine folks in Boston?  Well, additional research is needed to prove that moderate drinking is what’s actually producing stronger skeletons, but this is another piece of information indicating that a little wine a day can be good for you.  More importantly however, the next time you see your mom, pour her a glass of wine or beer and say (with a wink), “it will keep your bones strong.”