Exercise and Beer May Be a Good Combination: Good News for Me

I'm a runner. As of late, I fit mostly into what they call the "Clydesdale" group of runners - folks who are overweight, but insist on running anyway. My joints do suffer when I run, and I'm currently taking a break from running-specific training to spend some time focusing on weight loss. Regardless, a recent study by scientists at Granada University in Spain has given me an opportunity to combine two of my hobbies into one great article: beer and running.

Endurance exercise like running takes a pretty solid toll on the body, draining it of water, glycogen and other sugars used to fuel all of our daily functions. Athletes and sports scientists have come up with a number of ways to minimize these impacts. From sports gels to Gatorade, science has brought us a number of products that can help the body to refuel quickly, retain energy, and recover quickly, both during exercise and afterward.

The 30 minutes or so after vigorous exercise are critical, in terms of recovery and nutrition. During this recovery window, your body efficiently uses the fuel that you give it to restore glycogen - the fuel your muscles burn. There are a whole bunch of anecdotally-supported aids, like gummy bears, tootsie rolls, and fruit roll-ups, and some scientifically-formulated products produced to be recovery-specific. I read once that chocolate milk is a near-perfect blend of proteins and sugars for effective recovery, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to sit down to a big glass of chocolate milk after a hot, long run. What I do crave after exercise is an ice-cold beer. It's the one time I'll throw style recommendations out the window: I want my post-run beer as cold as is humanly possible. Professor Manuel Garzon in Granada has great news for me - it turns out that beer is another excellent recovery beverage, and will actually do me more good than water. Sweet!

Garzon's study was conducted on a group of about two dozen students over four months. The students were asked to run to near-exhaustion on treadmills in very warm conditions (temps over 100 degrees). When they were done, researchers conducted a number of tests on the students, measuring hydration levels, motor skills, and mental acuity. A sad control group was given a pint of water to drink, and the lucky kids got beer. Both groups were then allowed to consume as much water as they wanted. Apparently the beer-drinking students were rehydrated more quickly than the control group and the sugars and CO2 helped to refresh the students and recover calories. Apparently the alcohol in a single pint of beer isn't enough to cause any dehydration.

To my mind, the benefits of beer after exercise surpass nutrition and hydration. A beer is relaxing, both due to the alcohol present in the beverage and in a more Pavlovian way - we relax with beer habitually, so beer forces us to relax as a conditioned response. Relaxing tense muscles after exertion can ease blood flow, speeding both refueling and the removal of lactate - both resulting in a speedier recovery period. Today, I like science very much.