Among the many attractions, the "liquid gold" is probably the most important thing at Oktoberfest. But aside from this annual celebration, beer accounts for 67 percent of the alcohol consumption reported in the United States. It remains the preferred beverage of choice among Americans who drink alcohol — as it has every year since 1992, except for 2005 when wine edged into the top spot.

Most health advice has us feeling guilty over our indulgences, even if we don't enjoy them that often. Fortunately, having a few beers now and again is one treat we don't have to feel guilty about. In fact, beer can actually be good for our health when consumed in the proper amounts.

Now, medical research shows moderate drinking is associated with a lower probability of heart trouble, and Gallup has recently confirmed that the incidence of heart attacks increases substantially with age.

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have followed a representative selection of the middle-aged women from 1968 to 2000 (when the women in the study were between 70 and 92 years old). The results revealed that women who drink beer at most once or twice per week run a 30 percent lower risk of heart attack, compared with both heavy drinkers and women who never drink beer.

The study showed that women who reported that they drank beer once or twice per week to once or twice per month ran a 30% lower risk of a heart attack than women who drank beer several times per week/daily or never drank beer.

Additionally, a 2010 study suggested beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis studied commercial beer production to determine the relationship between beer production methods and the resulting silicon content, concluding that beer is a rich source of dietary silicon.

Still, the data indicate that many older Americans are not taking advantage of the prophylactic benefit of drinking. 59 percent of older Americans drink alcohol, substantially lower than the percentages among those who are younger. Additionally, those with the lowest education levels and lowest incomes are less likely to drink than others.

All in all, moderate consumption of beer seems to have some specific healthy benefits — among them, helping to protect women from heart attacks.