Drinking a few beers could help you keep strong bones as you age, researchers from the University of California, Davis reported.

They said in a news release that a new study suggests beer is a significant source of silicon, which helps increase mineral density in bones.

Lead author Charles Bamforth said it had not previously been clear why the brewing process ended up with so much silicon in beer. One finding in the study was that hops contributes four times the silicon that is found in the malt from barley.

"Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon," he said. "Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer."

The news release did not indicate if any clinical studies have been done to check the bone health of beer drinkers versus those who do not drink beer.

Details of this study are available in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.