Is Beer Really Better Than Water For Hydration?

Men worldwide were ubiquitously in high spirits (ridiculous pun intended) over a Spanish study that showed that post exercise beer was better for hydration than plain water. Other than in the UK, where beer is almost a religion, the press and scientific community pretty much left this alone. The blog-o-sphere, however, went nuts (tangential pun intended), championing one small study as the most important science since the Dionysian era with subtle headlines such as “There is a God: Beer Hydrates Better Than Water (Seriously)." But, seriously, does it? Let’s take a critical look.

The study

Professor Manuel Garzon, of Granada University, had a group of students to do strenuous exercise in temperatures of around 40ºC (104ºF). Half were given a pint of beer, while the others received the same volume of water. Conclusions showed those who drank beer hydrated “slightly better.”

Conclusions

While not exactly a testament for a pint it does put a kink in the puritanical argument that water is holy and all alcohol is the work of the devil. Also, as noted by some detractors in the scientific community, was that the study seemed a little sloppy, as perhaps the researchers spent a little too much time researching down at the pub to be bothered with dotting i’s and crossing t’s. But regardless of nitpicks a beer-positive was clear, and with more analysis it makes complete sense.


carl , this bud’s for you.

Analysis

Juan Antonio Corbalan, a cardiologist who worked formerly with Real Madrid football players and Spain's national basketball team, said beer had the perfect profile for re-hydration after sport.

He added that he had long recommended barley drinks to professional sportsmen after exercise.

After sport is the key to all of this, especially vigorous sport in hot weather because it makes us sweat more. And sweat, as most of us know, contains body salts referred to as electrolytes. And beer has more of these than water. Furthermore, it has energy (kilocalories or just “calories” if you’re American) in a macronutrient ratio of mostly carbs, a little protein and virtually zero fat. Those of you well versed in the science behind athletic “recovery formulations” know that the above ratio is preferred for quick muscle recovery. This means that beer is closer to Recovery Formula than is water and, thus, it makes sense that it should rehydrate you better after sports.

In fact, a lot of things would probably beat plain water in a post-activity study because your nutrients needs are completely different then when you aren’t active or haven’t exercised--when water is almost always the best choice. Unfortunately for most of the “there is a God” crowd, it means that beer will beat water for hydration after playing football but it’s going to have the opposite effect if all you’re doing is watching football. Sad, I know, and I am sorry.

When you break it down beer has an excellent post-sport resume for quick recovery. Its ingredients—German law until recently—are simple: water, barley, hops, and yeast, all of which are quite healthy, containing electrolytes and a great phytonutrient profile along with the aforementioned macronutrient base. The fermentation process, which we know is how alcohol is made, also has positive effects such as making foods more bioavailable and enzymatically active.

Unfortunately, large American brands are an affront to traditional brewers and use rice as a base, along with various extracts and things sold off from the country’s over production of genetically modified corn and soy—meaning Michelob Ultra should not be your recovery drink of choice no matter how much a certain athlete hypes it.

To further tame the party limits on volume must be discussed. Garzon gave his subjects one pint, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 calories. The post-exercise hydration equation is all based around how quickly your body can put nutrients to work. In the first hour post exercise you will absorb nutrients much more rapidly because your system is depleted. This is why carbohydrates are preferred and fats, which digest very slowly, should be shunned (studies in the 90s showed a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein, with little or no fat, was most effective). Anyway, what you need is energy that can be put to quick use. Your body can only turn around (digest and put to use) somewhere between 200-300 calories in a given hour. So anything more than 300 calories in the first hour (250 is a more accurate for most of us) will slow nutrient absorption and reduce the effectiveness. This means one beer, or maybe two smaller beers, are the maximum you can consume for a net positive recovery effect.

I’ve yet to discuss alcohol, which is a diuretic, meaning that it would naturally hurt hydration. But because beer is mainly water if you follow the above volume limits it’s not much of a factor and if you’re interested in nitpicking there are better options available.

Conclusion

While not as effective as Recovery Formula, a pint of real beer after hard exercise will outperform water, and many other things, for recovery. Cheers.

pic: ben and i, clearly worried about micronutrient replenishment and enzymatic activity somewhere around hour six of a ride.

Milk Is For Babies. I Drink Beer.

Largo wasn’t too descriptive about his Workout From Hell fueling strategy. This matters little to me as I’d likely alter it anyway but it’s funny to read and no problem to post in its entirety:

Good balanced vitals, a basic multi-vitamin, plus a little extra C seems to do the trick. I also tried to drink a couple of light beers an evening for no apparent reason at all!

In block one I’ve altered this very little. Shakeology in place of the vitamins and striking the light from the beer is the extent my diet so far. Beer is worth some discussion at this point because comparing mass produced beer, even light, to microbrews is like comparing Wonderbread to homemade whole 9-grain.

Beer has a long history in fueling climbing performance. Inebriated pub banter has led to some of the boldest ascents of yore. I personally recall a few hazy evenings in Yosemite’s Mountain Room bar followed with my friends goading me to lead a pitch that I had no business trying because I’d boasted, a few pitchers into the previous night, that “it might not be too bad.” I doubt I’m alone when I say that some of my scariest leads came about due to beer.

But that’s not what I’m talking about here. Nutritionally beer can be better than a lot of the junk we eat regularly. Mass produced beer, however, is the junk we eat regularly as it’s made from the same crap ingredients that fill most of what you find at the corner 7 Eleven and the middle isles of your local supermarket. Mass produced beer doesn’t even bother with traditional ingredients and, instead, is often fermented rice mixed with various by products of genetically modified corn and/or soy production. Microbrews (real ones, at least, as the big corporations sell imposters that still contain nothing but junk and are flavored by extracts) actually use various plants (barely, hops, etc) in a combination that has a decent nutritional profile and are loaded with phytonutrients. So when Arnold boasts “Milk is for babies. I drink beer,” in the classic film Pumping Iron, it was only veiled hyperbole. As a performance fuel, handmade beer is nutritionally superior for adults than mass produced pasteurized milk.

Beer aside, I generally don’t diet during the first block of an intense training program. You need to eat in order to fuel recovery and I generally eat fairly well. My goal in any volume phase is to fuel for recovery and not to worry about weight loss or any sort of body composition change. Over the course of the program I will make dietary changes in order to address it. If a program has a power phase, as the WFH does, I’ll generally do it then because power requires more rest, shorter sets, and burns fewer calories. For that I plan to dust off another chapter from the archives but that’s a topic for another time. Today we’re talkin’ about beer. And climbing.



HEMLOCK
If you hauled beer up here you’re crazier than I thought.

BEN BEAUMON
I may be crazy, amigo, but I’m not stupid. I didn’t haul it up here. You did. It’s in your pack.

pic: beer is such an iconic part of climbing that it's used in ads, or at least is was in the pre-photoshop 80s.

The Bob Diet

With phase one of the program being just starting, phase II will ramp it up a little with the Bob diet. My friend Bob went on an “anti-acid” diet and lost 10 pounds in the last 30 days. And he was lean to begin with.

It started because he was having some digestive issues. His doc asked if he consumed much coffee, alcohol, and spicy food to which he replied “it’s pretty much my entire diet.” After 30 days of a high alkaline diet he says he doesn’t feel a lot better, though the acid-reflux symptoms are gone so he’ll probably stay on a modified version. But he did lose a lot of weight, so I’m down.

Essentially, our diets tend to be overly acidic, which is primarily because we eat too much junk and not enough fruits and veggies. You don’t want a high alkaline diet all the time. You want a balanced diet. Your body regulates your blood pH levels so that they’re neutral, but when you consume too much acid this process does a lot of tissue damage. This was something that we never had to worry about before fast and convenience foods became a way of life because everyone ate some fruits and veggies, or at least live foods where the enzymes and bacteria weren’t all destroyed, out of necessity. Kudos to Bob’s doctor for recommending a dietary change instead of a medication.

Of note, Bob’s climbing has improved because he’s lost weight. His endurance sports, not so much. He did a paddleboard race on got slaughtered, as he hit the bonk pretty much out of the gate. As I pointed out in my post on the Diet Switcharoo, you’ve got to eat to fuel your endeavors.

Given my training will ramp again at the start of the Giro, this is essentially going to be a five day cleanse for me. Monday through Friday of this week I’ll eighty-six alcohol, coffee, sugar, meat, dairy, nuts except almonds, tomatoes and chilis, legumes, processed grains and breads from my diet.

Since I don’t have acid reflux this is all in the name of self-experimentation. Science is a cruel mistress.

pic: bob and his trademark oly.

Bike n' Booze: For A Long Healthy Life

This may be the best news I've ever heard.

Maybe Bikes & Booze Do Mix



If you enjoy a post-ride beer you may be increasing the heart-healthy benefits of cycling.

A study in Denmark, biking capital of the world, has found that drinking alcohol in moderation seems to have benefits similar to exercise. This research, reported in Time's Feb. 4 issue, is significant in that it was conducted on 12,000 people over a 20-year period.

It was found that exercise and drinking alcohol each had an independent beneficial effect on the heart. Mainly, an increase in good cholesterol (HDL) and the removal of fatty deposits created by bad cholesterol (LDL) in blood vessel walls.

The study also determined that drinking and exercise combine to have a greater health benefit than either alone. The Danish researchers defined four categories and found that . . .

people who never drink and don't exercise had the highest risk of heart disease.

people who never drink but do exercise had a 30% lower risk.

people who drink moderately but never exercise had a 30% lower risk.

people who drink moderately and exercise had a 50% lower risk.

Now, before you swap your Endurox for a 6-pack of Pabst, here are the caveats:

A research team spokesman, Dr. Morten Gronbaek of Denmark's National Institute of Public Health, says the benefits of alcohol don't kick in until you're at the age -- 45 to 50 -- where heart disease becomes an appreciable risk.

"There's absolutely no proof of a preventative and protective effect before age 45," Gronbaek told Time. Further, alcohol consumption is related to an increase in breast cancer among women, and anyone who has a family history of alcoholism should steer clear no matter what their age.

The study imposed a limit of one drink a day for women and two for men. It did not distinguish among beer, wine and liquor. It calls for common sense in determining a "moderate" amount: a 12-oz. beer and a double martini are far different even though they fit in the same size glass.

17 beers a day for better health?

Once again, Yahoo has served up a misleading headline that drives home the point that you need to read articles and not just browse headlines. Furthermore, you then need to analyze the information and decide what it means. In this case, at least, not much analysis is needed.

"Beer ingredient may fight prostate cancer " reads the headline.

The article, in fact, tells a far different story, mainly that you probably need to drink about 17 beers a day for this to be true. Can 17 beers a day be healthy? C'mon! Without even discussing its alcohol content, we're talkin' about 3,000 calories consisting of alcohol and carbs--not exactly the Zone. With a diet like this you'll die long before prostate cancer has any sort of chance to affect your healthy at all.

What this article is actually telling us is that not all of beer's ingredients are bad for us but, in order to have a balanced diet, we need to eat other foods as well. Hardly a sexy headline but, unfortunately, that's the way it is.