Drink Beer for Healthy Bones

Scientists have kept the secret to strong bones bottled up for years, but now the good news is pouring out: beer builds bones.

Drinking beer especially pale ale strengthens your bones and could stop them becoming brittle, a study suggests.

Researchers found that the drink contained a substance that boosts bones and could mean they are less likely to suffer from osteoporosis.

They discovered that beer, especially pale ales, contains high levels of silicon known to slow down the bone thinning that leads to fractures and boosting the formation of new bone. Read more

Should You Get Your Drug Information from an Actor?

If you have osteoporosis, you might ask your doctor about prescribing the drug Boniva. After all, Sally Field takes it, so it must be good, right? Dr. Andrew Weil says, not necessarily.

Sally Field is a talented actor. But what qualifies her to promote Boniva, an osteoporosis drug that is of limited benefit, has worrisome side effects, and for which there are natural alternatives that merit careful consideration?

In "What's Wrong with American Medicine?" I point out that many high-technology treatments have a shadow side. In most areas of life, technological development has made services better and cheaper, but (with a few notable exceptions) it has made health care worse and more expensive. The result: an unhealthy populace and an economy that's lurching toward disaster. Read more