I know this may be frowned upon by some but like a lot of people I know, following training nights at the 'Harriers' on Tuesday and Thursday evening's it is customary for us to go to the local hostelry for a couple of pints and some post training socialising.
A few year back, during one of these socialising sessions I proffered the idea that drinking beer post training was actually beneficial as if you just drank water you may quench your thirst before adequately rehydrating and this could ultimately be harmful to ones kidneys. By drinking beer, however, I suggested that the kidney's would remain active and healthy.
A doctor friend however said something to the effect, that although it was a nice idea, things didn't actually work like that.
But, perhaps I wasn't that far off the mark.
As following his study of 16 active men who ran on a treadmill for an hour in a heated room. Dr Manuel J. Castillo, of the University of Granada School of Medicine in Spain, presented his findings at the 2011 European Conference on Nutrition.
These were, that following the exercise described above. Each person drank either water or 660 millilitres of beer with a 4.5 percent alcohol content. He found that a moderate amount of beer following exercise did not adversely affect recovery. Stating, "We found that this amount of beer is as effective as water to recovery from exercise."
Also, there are the findings from research carried out at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia and published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Here seven men exercised vigorously until they lost about 2% of their body mass. Following this, they had 1 of 4 fluid replacements:
- light beer (2.3% alcohol content)
- light beer with added salt
- standard beer 4.8% alcohol content)
- standard beer with added salt.
The researchers found that drinking the light beer with added salt produced the greatest benefits and didn't put athletes at great risk of further dehydration, which could occur with the higher strength beer.
A few year back, during one of these socialising sessions I proffered the idea that drinking beer post training was actually beneficial as if you just drank water you may quench your thirst before adequately rehydrating and this could ultimately be harmful to ones kidneys. By drinking beer, however, I suggested that the kidney's would remain active and healthy.
A doctor friend however said something to the effect, that although it was a nice idea, things didn't actually work like that.
As following his study of 16 active men who ran on a treadmill for an hour in a heated room. Dr Manuel J. Castillo, of the University of Granada School of Medicine in Spain, presented his findings at the 2011 European Conference on Nutrition.
These were, that following the exercise described above. Each person drank either water or 660 millilitres of beer with a 4.5 percent alcohol content. He found that a moderate amount of beer following exercise did not adversely affect recovery. Stating, "We found that this amount of beer is as effective as water to recovery from exercise."
Also, there are the findings from research carried out at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia and published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Here seven men exercised vigorously until they lost about 2% of their body mass. Following this, they had 1 of 4 fluid replacements:
- light beer (2.3% alcohol content)
- light beer with added salt
- standard beer 4.8% alcohol content)
- standard beer with added salt.
The researchers found that drinking the light beer with added salt produced the greatest benefits and didn't put athletes at great risk of further dehydration, which could occur with the higher strength beer.
Comments