Writing about wine? I reluctantly did lots of market research for this post. It's all part of my above and beyond customer service.
Chocolate has been used in clinical trials and has been found to improve artery and heart health. It’s also been
shown to help with emotional stress. This is not news to any woman
alive. And now the news just got better.
A study of women in their 50s and early 60s indicates that
moderate alcohol consumption may help with the bone loss that comes with
menopause. The women in this study drank about 1-2 drinks per day, primarily
wine.
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| Could drinking wine slow bone loss? |
The finding corresponds with previous studies such as the Framingham Heart Study, which documented that
moderate drinkers (1-2 drinks daily) have higher bone mineral density compared
to heavy drinkers or people who didn’t drink at all.
It may now be considered doctor’s orders to shut ourselves off
with a bottle of Chateau Margaux, a bar of Lindt and several George Clooney
movies. All this and no deductible!
The latest study, published in the journal Menopause, finds evidence that
moderate alcohol consumption influences bone turnover. It’s a small study, just
40 women, but it helps explain why this may be the case.
So here’s the science behind this fabulous news.
As women age their bodies are constantly balancing the loss of
bone and the creation of new bone. As bone is lost it dissolves or resorbs and
then new bone is made. Bone mass peaks at about age 30 and then within a few
years the body begins to lose bone faster than it can be replaced.
At about age 51 bone loss dramatically accelerates as ovaries
stop producing estrogen which helps to keep bones strong. The resorption
rate increases but the formation of new bone doesn’t keep up so bone loss
becomes more dramatic.
The study authors from Oregon State University took blood
samples to measure specific byproducts of bone remodeling, the bits of protein
that were part of the bone and are now in the bloodstream. These proteins,
known as markers, correlate with the amount of bone that is resorped.
Blood samples were collected from the women who had been regularly
drinking alcohol (mostly wine). They were then told not to drink for two weeks
and blood samples were then taken again.
“What we found was that the [blood] markers were higher,
significantly higher [after the women stopped drinking],” explains researcher
Urszula Iwaniec. “Indicating that more bone was being resorped,” she says.
Once the women began drinking again the blood markers dropped
back to where they had been before. It seemed to indicate that the alcohol
slowed down the bone turnover rate.
While this is promising news for women approaching or
experiencing menopause it isn’t necessarily the case for younger women under
the age of 25 who are still building bone mass. Excess alcohol consumption may
interfere with bone mass development so it should be avoided.
Researchers hope to expand the study soon.
MASS Medical Storage loves chocolate and wine
and if push came to shove we could definitely store it because that’s our
business. Our storage carts and cabinets are completely customizable so no
matter what you need it’s right at your fingertips. And we make customizing
your storage units easy and affordable. Take a look at our short planning video
and download your personal planning tools to see how MASS
Medical Storage can increase your efficiency and improve patient care.
