July 11, 2012 — Women who drink alcohol moderately may be doing their bones a favor, new research suggests.
“Moderate alcohol as a component of a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and physical activity may lower the risk of osteoporosis,” researcher Urszula Iwaniec, PhD, associate professor at Oregon State University, tells WebMD.
The study is small, with only 40 women, she cautions, and the research needs to be repeated in larger groups to see if the findings hold up.
The women in the study averaged 1.4 drinks a day. More than 90% were wine drinkers, Iwaniec tells WebMD.
The study is published in the journal Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society.
Drinking and Bone Health: Study Details
In the past, other research has found a link between moderate drinking and bone health, as measured by bone density, Iwaniec says. However, it has not been shown definitely that alcohol itself helps the bones or that the benefit is due to other factors.
Her team evaluated healthy women who were in early menopause, not on hormone therapy, and drank only moderately. Their average age was 56 and they had no history of fractures related to osteoporosis.
Bones are constantly remodeling, with old bone being removed and replaced. Estrogen helps keep this bone remodeling process in good balance.
As women go through menopause and estrogen declines, they are at risk of decreased bone density and getting osteoporosis.
The researchers took blood samples at the study start and computed the levels of indicators of bone turnover.
Next, the researchers asked the women to abstain from all alcohol for two weeks and took blood samples again.
After two weeks, the rate of bone removal and replacement increased. “That means that bone turnover is increased, and increased bone turnover is an independent risk factor for fractures [in older women],” Iwaniec says.
