Beer as cycling fuel?

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OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
Obviously one pint of 3.6% makes very little difference, but after six pints of 6% these processes or lack of processes start to add up.
Not disputing that but I don't think anyone is advocating that are they!

I plead guilty to busting the 6 per cent barrier a while ago at the beginning of a wet Yorkshire ride with this fine stuff:

https://www.ellandbrewery.co.uk/cask/1872-porter/

but only a single pint.

and the consultant who handed it over assured me that it was food.
 

theclaud

Openly Marxist
Location
Swansea
so you drink a pint of liquid - get no bodily benefit from that pint of liquid and lose some of the benefit of liquid you have otherwise consumed?

Forgive me - I find this rather hard to fathom.

If crawling desperately across a desert I don't think I'd turn down a pint of beer - even Fosters.

Are you suggesting I should?

And hold out in the hope of finding a urine donor over the next sand-dune?
School level biology, innit? Alcohol inhibits the hormone that allows your kidneys to reabsorb the water you need. And you don't need a Biology GCSE to know how badly you need water when waking up at 4qm after a massive sesh...
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
School level biology, innit? Alcohol inhibits the hormone that allows your kidneys to reabsorb the water you need. And you don't need a Biology GCSE to know how badly you need water when waking up at 4qm after a massive sesh...
am not sure anyone is advocating a "massive sesh"* on bike rides.
Have no plans either to cram andrews liver salts in the panniers.
or hares of the dog.
* can't remember when I last had one of those even off the bike.
 

T4tomo

Guru
I sometimes combine a pint or two and a ride - nice way to finish off a weekend afternoon ride. Defo doesnt aid performance as can feel the slightly negative effect if had a couple on the hill up to home.

still to be encouraged though.....:okay:
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
so you drink a pint of liquid - get no bodily benefit from that pint of liquid and lose some of the benefit of liquid you have otherwise consumed?

Forgive me - I find this rather hard to fathom.

If crawling desperately across a desert I don't think I'd turn down a pint of beer - even Fosters.

Are you suggesting I should?

And hold out in the hope of finding a urine donor over the next sand-dune?
If you aren't fully hydrated, drinking a pint of beer will help with the rehydration as the body will absorb the useful water content as well as the problematic alcohol. However, if you drink a second, a third, a fourth pint, you're probably already fully hydrated so the water passes through you but the alcohol doesn't. Then you have more and more alcohol inhibiting that hormone

So if you're crawling over a sand dune and someone offers you a pint, take it. But maybe pass on the second one
 
Alcohol is a diuretic. It suppresses water reabsorbtion in the kidneys. So you excrete more water than you would were you not drinking alcohol. Result - net water loss.
My perception is that weak beers DO rehydrate me. And yet as you say, the diuretic effects suggest a net harm. I goggled alcohol exercise hydration, and got muddy results. My summary:
- they looked at mild dehydration following exercise
- at low %alcohol, some beer rehydrates about as well as some water.
- Isotonic drinks rehydrate better
- averagely strong beer (4-6%) doesn't rehydrate you as well. But it does rehydrate.
- LOTS of VERY strong beer? The studies didn't go into this! I'm guessing they do make you worse off - cos this fits our own experience with hangovers.
- many other scenarios go untested

So basically, yes, that first Ice Cold In Alex lager will definitely be better for you than turning it down :smile:
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
I sometimes combine a pint or two and a ride - nice way to finish off a weekend afternoon ride. Defo doesnt aid performance as can feel the slightly negative effect if had a couple on the hill up to home.

still to be encouraged though.....:okay:
Yep,definitely a post lunch and beer lag, especially on the hill leaving the sadly missed golden hop on some rides I used to lead. Seven per cent local cider.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
My perception is that weak beers DO rehydrate me. And yet as you say, the diuretic effects suggest a net harm. I goggled alcohol exercise hydration, and got muddy results. My summary:
- they looked at mild dehydration following exercise
- at low %alcohol, some beer rehydrates about as well as some water.
- Isotonic drinks rehydrate better
- averagely strong beer (4-6%) doesn't rehydrate you as well. But it does rehydrate.
- LOTS of VERY strong beer? The studies didn't go into this! I'm guessing they do make you worse off - cos this fits our own experience with hangovers.
- many other scenarios go untested

So basically, yes, that first Ice Cold In Alex lager will definitely be better for you than turning it down :smile:
Thank you, despite the horror stories that is my perception, and am pretty sure have had it confirmed in the past by someone with more detailed medical expertise than me.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
This is akin flat earthism. Applying "stands to reason" logic to try to force a conclusion that you've already come to.

Alcohol is a diuretic. It suppresses water reabsorbtion in the kidneys. So you excrete more water than you would were you not drinking alcohol. Result - net water loss. That's what diuretic means. You can't just decide that you "don't buy" that.

There's a hormonal basis for it that I'm sure you could look up somewhere. The effect will vary with dose so the % of alcohol in the drink and the amount of drink will all play a part making the effect greater or lesser.

In your daft example of being desperately thirsty in the desert your whole physiology would be in a very unusual state. And you aren't considering going on a desert crawl, you're going on a bike ride to the pub. So - in the bin with that straw man.

Edit. Here you go: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/...n-the-body/why-does-alcohol-make-you-pee-more
Calm yourself Mr trousers . Maybe you need a drink.
 
OP
OP
Blue Hills
Location
London
The reports I read included the suggestion that mild beer rehydrated better than plain water due to the carbs and (limited) electrolytes.
So a shot of single malt is probably not as good, may even be net harm :sad:
Careful,Mr trousers will definitely be reaching for the bottle.
What I meant with my poo looking of the diuretic alarm bells shock horror tales was that I still feel I get the benefit of the liquid.
Obviously with some other largely pleasant side effects.
 
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