Tequila might be good for your bones
Tequila lovers can rejoice, because their drink of choice might be giving them bone health benefits, according to Metro.
Scientists at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) in Mexico have managed to identify certain substances in the tequila plant that enhance the capacity of the body to absorb calcium.
According to Science Daily, a blue variety of the agave tequilana plant contains substances that improve the human body’s ability to absorb calcium and magnesium – both of them contributing to the maintaining of good bone health.
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For the study, researchers induced osteoporosis in female mice before giving them agave fructans – polymers of fructose molecules found in the plant. After eight weeks, they took samples that measured the mice’s absorption of minerals and presence of osteocalcin, a protein that indicates new bone being produced.
Mice who consumed the plant polymers synthesized almost 50% more osteocalcin and also had a higher bone diameter than mice that weren’t given the polymers.
Dr. Mercedes López, the leader of the project, concluded the study, saying that “the consumption of fructans contained in the agave, in collaboration with adequate intestinal micriobiota, promotes the formation of new bone, even with the presence of osteoporosis”.
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