Time to trade in that Gatorade for a Heineken. Amazingly, researchers have found that beer actually hydrates the body better than water after a tough workout. Will someone please award the Nobel Prize to these courageous scientists immediately?
As reported in the current issue of Science magazine, researchers at Granada University in Spain tested 25 students who ran on a treadmill at a high temperature until they were exhausted. After the workout, half the subjects drank water while the other half were given two pints of lager.
Lo and behold, the researchers found that the beer drinkers had “slightly better” hydration, motor skills and ability to concentrate. The scientists speculate that the sugar, salt and bubbles found in beer help the body to absorb fluids. Beer’s carbohydrates also replenish the calories you’ve burned off.
So crack open a cold one and toast this wonderful piece of news.
For more health news, check out Your Health Topics.
photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar
June 9th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Cyclists have known this for a century.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am
One more step to legalizing drunk driving.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:59 am
this is a great thing, but I still wouldn’t choose either during some crucial skateboarding, but if cyclist know…maybe i should try it
June 9th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Oh, hell yes. I love beer!
June 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
everything but heineken please that stuff is just not healthy
June 9th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I agree with you Pablo. Anything but Heineken, it is a marketing product mistaken for a lager. But What is said about drunk driving and such…. Beer was invented loooooong time ago because the water in the ditch next to where people lived was a sure killer. Beer was brewn, water was added and even with very low alcohol promillage it was safe to drink.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Ugh, I really don’t like Eric’s comment. Yeah, you hip cyclists with your PBR and crap. I hope you don’t ride a fixie or a single! I ride plenty, but that is on a geared bike and a nice one at that.
In any case, Eric misses something bigger in trying to be a cool biker. I’m thinking along the lines of all the slaves that toiled in Egypt building pyramids for the pharaohs. The slaves were essentially ‘paid’ with fermented beer-like booze (hard work and hydrating beer). Yeah, you hipster cyclists have known about the hydrating properties of beer for a century, huh? Get over yourself and pay respects to the people that trump your discovery by thousands of years. Egyptian slaves of old > hipster cyclists.
June 9th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Wow. Kai should lighten up. What’s up with all the hip cyclist hate. Eric rides a nice geared bike. I know because I rode in a Metric Century last week with him. He doesn’t even drink. We also know a guy that rode half of that century fixed then he flipped the wheel at about the halfway point. He was just trying to make it a little more challenging for himself. We don’t know hipsters here we just love riding bikes of all types.
I can guzzle some brew myself now. It all goes to my gut even after a strenuous ride. Give and take. Heineken ain’t so bad. I don’t drink it because Bud is cheaper and tastes better. Lot’s of people here like Fat Tire. I like it too. For pricey beer I go for a Shiner Bock. That’s good stuff to me.
I don’t know what the attraction to PBR is either but my guess is the poor youngsters discovered a tasty cheap beer and riding bikes. Who can blame a person for that?
June 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Hey now! I never claimed to be a fixie hipster jerk. My bikes have gears!
I’m just saying beer has been a long held recovery drink for all types of cyclists. Though my recovery drink of choice is chocolate milk because I don’t drink.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I’d just like to point out that bikes have only been around for about a century…I’m sure athletes as a whole have known this for a long time…
June 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Doesn’t the alcohol in beer prohibit muscle growth and so make the workout kinda worthless?
June 13th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
It takes more water to metabolize beer, so this could be true initially, but if you find it works just make sure you get lots of regular water.
That’s what hangovers are, dehydration.
July 6th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Tor is very correct, When alcohol is present in the blood stream, ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) is unable to be released into the nephron of the kidney, and when ADH isn’t released the body cannot absorb any water that is passing through it, which explains how the body can become dehydrated after a heavy night of drinking(and peeing). I learned this in a Human Physiology class, and it is true to the best of my knowledge, but if someone reading has a better and more accurate explanation of what i am getting at, by all means, feel free!
July 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Of course this study was paid for by someone like the National Association of Brewers and Beer Distributors or something. Do the same thing for cheaper with sparkling water, for fuck sake.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Wow! There’s no way this is true. My wife isn’t going to believe it.