Should you drink beer after a workout?

After playing football, can I drink beer to rehydrate, refresh my body, and regain strength faster? (Son, 29 years old, Hanoi).

Reply

After exercise, the body often loses strength, becomes dehydrated, has electrolyte imbalances, and reduces muscle glycogen reserves. Alcohol abuse at this time forces the liver and kidneys to work harder to eliminate toxins. Alcohol is a diuretic that makes you urinate frequently, feel tired, and have electrolyte imbalances. This prolonged condition overloads the organs, making their ability to detoxify worse.

Therefore, beer and wine cannot replace water and cannot be drunk instead of water after heavy exercise. You should only drink in moderation and rest before consuming cold drinks such as beer to avoid disrupting your body temperature.

Men should not drink more than 720 ml of beer or 300 ml of wine or 60 ml of whisky per day. Women should not drink more than 360 ml of beer or 150 ml of wine or 30 ml of whisky per day. Avoid using alcoholic beverages of unknown origin.

In addition, the body is often hungry after exercise, alcohol abuse makes you drunk easily because the acid in the stomach increases stimulation, easily damages the mucosa, and in the long term affects the stomach, colon, and liver. Drinking alcohol when the body is tired, stressed or overexerted is also easier to get drunk than usual. Driving in an unconscious state is also the leading cause of accidents, dangerous for yourself and other road users.

After exercise, you should drink coconut water, watermelon or eat mango, orange, pear or snack to replenish electrolytes and recover faster.

Doctor Nguyen Huy Hoang
Vietnam - Russia Hyperbaric Oxygen Center, Ministry of Defense

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