Three disadvantages and the solution
For some it almost seems like a ritual: a beer after cycling, running or playing football. Or two. Or three. The ultimate reward for your effort, but does it really contribute to a good recovery of your body? Unfortunately… drinking alcohol after exercise has some drawbacks.
Disadvantage 1: Diuretic effect
You lose a lot of fluid during exercise. Of course you want to replenish that after exercise. Beer may seem like a good choice, but alcohol actually has a diuretic effect. It makes you have to pee extra often. When you drink alcohol, your body loses more fluid than it absorbs.
Of course beer also contains a lot of water (90 percent) and you might expect that it will eventually be okay with that moisture. This has been investigated: even three standard glasses of beer cannot fully restore the fluid balance after exercise.
Do you really want a beer? Then choose non-alcoholic beer. The fluid balance recovers better with this beer than when you drink beer with a higher alcohol percentage (4.8 percent), according to research. But unfortunately not quite.
Disadvantage 2: Alcohol comes in harder
After a lot of exercise, your stomach is empty. If you drink alcohol immediately after exercise, it will be absorbed into your blood extra quickly. The known side effects of alcohol are therefore extra severe. For example, you are less sharp and react less alert.
Disadvantage 3: Slower recovery
During exercise, lactic acid is released, which the body has to break down. That happens in the liver. But your liver is also responsible for breaking down alcohol. The breakdown of alcohol has higher priority for the liver. This means that the lactic acid will accumulate in the muscles and eventually cause muscle pain. So do you drink (a lot of) beer after your workout? Then you can suffer from muscle pain for longer and longer and perform optimally less quickly.
Brewer’s yeast improves performance?
About 2-3 grams of brewer’s yeast per day improves your stamina by no less than 5 percent. This is a much quoted message from science and seems to many to be a license to drink beer. But to get that amount of brewer’s yeast, you have to drink hard at night. That 2-3 grams is equal to about 16 beers.
The solution: water and carbohydrates first, then beer
Do you go to the canteen or pub for a beer with your sports buddies? First drink a glass of water and supplement your carbohydrates with, for example, some fruit, juice or a smoothie.
After an intensive workout, your glycogen stores in your body have decreased. Glycogen is a store of carbohydrates in the liver and muscles. If you need energy quickly and easily (during exercise), that stock is used. You can only replenish that stock of glycogen by eating and drinking carbohydrates, such as fruit or juice or a currant bun. Or opt for a hypertonic drink; it also contains a lot of carbohydrates.
Afterwards, have a beer and stick to one, at least if you want to comply with the Nutrition Center’s advice not to drink alcohol or in any case no more than one glass a day. This advice applies to both men and women.
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