The "M" Word

Whitney Fountas brought an interesting article to my attention. Everyone has heard that wine, especially red wine, has many health benefits. Unfortunately, they always put the word “moderation” in the same sentence. Well now there is a new study out from UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology that reports that beer has health benefits as well. Namely, beer contains “a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density,” according to ScienceDaily.
A connection can be made that “moderate” beer consumption can help reduce osteoporosis. Now, I’m not a big beer fan but I know that some of you are so I went to an osteoporosis expert and one of our faculty members, Joanna Davies, M.D. and asked for her opinion on the benefits of beer and here’s what she wrote:

“According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), dietary silicon (Si), as soluble OSA, may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue, and beer appears to be a major contributor to Si intake. Based on these findings, some studies suggest moderate beer consumption may help fight osteoporosis, a disease of the skeletal system characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue.How does the medical community define moderation? According to the Mayo Clinic website, moderate drinking is defined as two drinks a day if you’re a male 65 and younger, or one drink a day if you’re a female or a male 66 and older. A drink is defined as 12 ounces (355 milliliters) of beer, 5 ounces (148 milliliters) of wine or 1.5 ounces (44 milliliters) of 80-proof distilled spirits. While most of the experts agree that moderate consumption may have benefits. They clearly to not recommend anyone begin drinking alcohol to treat or prevent diseases!!!!!"

Ok, so everything in moderation. I get it.

What have you heard about soda? First I heard it “bleached your bones” and now I hear it wasn’t the soda that was bad, it was drinking soda instead of milk that was bad. What’s the latest?