Drinking beer is good for your bones. To say the latest research promoted by the Department of Chemical Biotechnology and Pharmacy of the University of Siena then published in the Journal of Functional Food. The drink, as research has shown, would be able to prevent major diseases such as osteoporosis and arthrosis thanks to the benefit that bone and cartilage cells derive from the silicon present inside.
“The specificity of beer? Its uniqueness at a scientific level that in fact makes it a food that can potentially be certified as functional for people”, says Annalisa Santucci, professor at the University of Siena and one of the authors of the study. But it doesn’t stop there. The work of the Tuscan university also led to the birth of ‘Beerbone’, hops produced in Val d’Orcia thanks to the collaboration between the San Quirico brewery, the same university and its spin-off SienabioActive.
“For the first time we experimented with a beer for scientific experiments, just as we do with a drug – continues Santucci – and that is by evaluating the molecular effects on human cells in the laboratory. From there the extremely positive effects on the metabolism of bone cells were observed. and cartilage “. Beerbone was born precisely from this consideration, controlling the entire production chain, from the sowing of the cereal to the mystification up to the final product.
“This is only the beginning – adds the researcher – we will continue to analyze all its nutritional properties and beneficial capacities. Beerbone is already in production, but in the future it can also be enhanced in its chemical composition and bioactivity”. The University of Siena with its drink also aims abroad: “We want to develop research for a future beer that can aspire to be certified internationally as a functional food for human health, providing for its marketing in pharmacies or food stores. “, concludes Santucci.
However, the research raises some clarifications. “It is true that the silicon present in beer can have beneficial effects on bones and restricted areas of the body but let’s remember that ethanol present not only in beer but also in spirits and wine statistically favors the appearance of even serious tumors” . To say the doctor Gianni Testino, head of Alcology of the San Martino hospital in Genoa and president of the Italian Society of Alcohol.