The effect is so that just a two-week break from alcohol hastened bone decline in women, according to the Oregon State University study.
After menopause, women's production of new bone cells slows, but the rate of shedding old cells does not slow as much, leading to a porous skeleton that easily fractures.
Past studies have shown that women who drink moderately (one or two alcoholic beverages per day) have higher bone density than non-drinkers or heavy drinkers.
In line with the observed trends, the researchers looked at the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on "bone turnover," or the replacing of old bone cells with new ones, in healthy post-menopausal women.
They found the women in the study who drank more alcohol (up to two drinks per day) had denser hip bones than those who drank less (as little as half a drink per day).
More tellingly, blood tests showed that abstaining from drinking for just two weeks triggered an acceleration of bone turnover in all the women, LiveScience reported.
After a 14-day alcohol holiday, the women's blood contained heightened levels of a molecule that gets released during bone turnover. And less than a day after the women resumed their normal drinking, blood levels of that molecule dropped again, the researchers found.
"After less than 24 hours, to see such a measurable effect was really unexpected," said study researcher Urszula Iwaniec, associate professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University.
The researchers, who detail their results in the journal Menopause, said it is possible alcohol "may be detrimental to the growing skeleton, but have beneficial effects on the ageing skeleton".
However, it is yet to be determined whether alcohol also benefits younger drinkers' bones, they said.
Drinking too much alcohol at any age undeniably causes health problems, but the new findings cast one more vote in favour of moderate alcohol consumption as part of a healthy diet in middle age, they noted.
Past studies have linked moderate drinking with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, lower risk of stroke in women and lower mortality in general.
