Drink to your (Bone) Health, Ladies!

Good news! Baby Boomer Women everywhere have another reason to treat themselves to a few glasses of wine each day. A recent study published in The Journal of the North American Menopause Society shows that moderate alcohol intake can help keep bones healthy.

While earlier studies show that alcohol abuse decreases bone health, this study indicates that drinking wine daily in moderation can do more for bone health than abstaining completely.

Past research supports this latest study in showing that moderate drinkers have consistently higher bone density compared to heavy or nondrinkers.

Once women go into menopause their estrogen levels decline, and one of the main side effects is loss of bone density. Hormone therapy is recommended by some doctors to counteract this symptom, but new research shows a promising alternative.

This study was conducted among 40 healthy women in early menopause, none of whom were undergoing hormone therapy. Their levels of bone turnover were recorded at the beginning of the study, after abstaining from alcohol for two weeks and the morning following the alcohol-free period after they had consumed a specified amount based on their average intake the night before.

Results showed that bone removal increased after the period of no alcohol, but rapidly decreased upon drinking wine again.  Further research is needed to validate the results more, but initially they are promising.

So ladies, do your bodies a favor and go ahead and pour yourself that second glass of wine!