After a day of exercise, many want to quench their thirst with a cold beer, especially if the sun is out, but is beer is the best choice to rehydrate or is this just a myth?
A study by the Centre for Research in Human Movement Science (Cimohu) at the State University of Costa Rica (UCR), determined that beer is not a good choice after sports because it does not help in recovering lost fluids.
This new analysis contradicts other publications that have reported otherwise in recent years in the international media.
An example is the study presented in Brussels in 2011 during the ‘VI European Symposium on Beer and Health “, where medical experts said that moderate consumption of beer after physical exercise is as effective as water for rehydration and recovery.
With the new study in Costa Rica, the old myth that beer is an ideal hydrator is contradicted.
“It makes sense that some people think that beer can be used for hydration, but in reality what happens is that they feel very refreshed,” said one of the researcher of the report, Luis Fernando Aragón.
The UCR study compared the conservation of the liquid, the alcohol, the reaction time and balance after losing fluid while exercising in the heat.
A group of 11 people were used in the study to drink beer and exercise.
“After three hours of monitoring, when the participants drank beer, they only kept a quarter of the liquid, and everything else had urinated. Compared to non-alcoholic beer and water, they kept 50% of fluid in their body” said Aragon.
The researcher said that not even the water helps to replenish nutrients that are lost during exercise.
The amount of ingested beer was the same that had been lost by sweating, on average about 1,600 milliliters, which is about four and a half cans of the fermented beverage with an alcohol level of 4.6%.
Aragon said that although beer has malt and electrolytes that are favorable for rehydration, it does very little to make a difference. (ACAN-EFE)