View Full Version : Beer hydrates better than water
johnnybgood
06-04-2009, 21:39
So before you hit the trail this weekend fill that hydration bladder with your favorite brewskie.
The so called experts at Backpacker attribute this to the sugars and salt found in beer .
With all the carbohydrates in beer helping to restore used up reserves its no wonder a cold one tastes so good after climbing mountains all day.
Moderate consumption at 500ml a day is suggested. 250 ml for the lady hikers.
Uh huh , RIGHT :rolleyes:
pattydivins
06-04-2009, 21:47
I like beer :banana
CrumbSnatcher
06-04-2009, 21:48
I don't know about all that, but it sure helps me tolerate others;) i seldom drink but on long hikes you betcha
yuengling lagar.
Hoop Time
06-04-2009, 21:55
The nutritional benefits are true, but you cannot discount the fact that alcohol is a diuretic.
sounds like a good enough reason. i only like a stout or pale ale warm. good beer in the middle of nowhere, i'm sure it's a good feeling.
warraghiyagey
06-04-2009, 22:21
While I appreciate the tenor of this thread, and many many beers. . . alcohol has the reverse effect on theh human body, just so's everyone knows. . . beer's great. . . but it will dehydrate you quicker than the Phoenix Marathon. . . . .
johnnybgood
06-04-2009, 22:48
While I appreciate the tenor of this thread, and many many beers. . . alcohol has the reverse effect on theh human body, just so's everyone knows. . . beer's great. . . but it will dehydrate you quicker than the Phoenix Marathon. . . . .
Only after many beers . Moderation on the trail should be no more than 1 beer.
I drink gatorade or sports drinks for the sugar/electrolytes .
vonfrick
06-04-2009, 22:57
Moderate consumption at 500ml a day is suggested. 250 ml for the lady hikers.
:mad:i call BS. i can hike just as far, carry just as much and am entitled to just as much beer :p
Drink as many beers as you want. But just alternate between water and beer and you will be just fine. I mean if you drink 16 ounce beer do the same with the water, drink 16 ounces.
Dances with Mice
06-04-2009, 23:26
:mad:i call BS. i can hike just as far, carry just as much and am entitled to just as much beer :pI believe we should trust science on this. Give me half your beer.
Pokey2006
06-04-2009, 23:31
I knew it all along!
Hey, ALCOHOL dehydrates. Beer is what, 5 percent alcohol? The rest is what? That's right: WATER.
I've never felt dehydrated from drinking beer, even after strenuous exercise. Might be different if I were drinking something like tequila...
Wise Old Owl
06-04-2009, 23:47
I cuncour .... thne lay down in the midle ov the street... just outttside of the Bar,
http://www.insidesarah.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/blackstrip.JPG
garlic08
06-05-2009, 00:09
...Might be different if I were drinking something like tequila...
So I guess you learned a lesson in Nogales?:D
Pokey2006
06-05-2009, 02:51
So I guess you learned a lesson in Nogales?:D
Yes, when hiking, beer=good, tequila=really, really bad. You'd think I would have already learned this lesson, but sometimes I'm a little slow...
callook66
06-05-2009, 05:52
I really should start bladdering my homebrew instead of bottling it!!
callook66
06-05-2009, 05:54
Also, thanks to Backpacker's camelbak smackdown video, we know that it'll stand up to the carbonation.
Lemni Skate
06-05-2009, 06:12
I have heard people say for years that beer dehydrates you and that was the cause of hangovers.
Not true. If you drink 6 beers thats almost 70 ounces of water. If you put that much water in you, then you're hydrated (in most cases). Anyone ever inspect their urine when drinking a lot. It's clear, not yellow. Yellow urine indicates dehydration.
I still wouldn't recommend more than 2 beers in a day, but not because it will dehydrate you, just because I don't want to run into you when you're all drunk and obnoxious on the trail.
Hey, ALCOHOL dehydrates. Beer is what, 5 percent alcohol? The rest is what? That's right: WATER.
Thank you! Drinking beer is not exactly like drinking Everclear.
Hoop Time
06-05-2009, 07:49
Yes there is a lot of water in beer. But remember the old saying ... you don't buy beer, you rent it. The alcohol in the beer is a key to why that is true. Not saying you will get dehydrated if you drink a beer while hiking. and absolutely not one who would discourage drinking more than one at the end of the hike. I'm just taking issue with the "science" of it being a better way to hydrate than water.
English pale ale was traditionally drunk while working in the fields all day. Works for me.
I suppose though the thing to do might be to carry a porter or even a barley wine and then water it down. The same might be done with mead, as mead can be made very strong, but is also good watered down. Wine also. People seem to be fussy about watering down wine and such, but I am not so fussy. If I am really thirsty I will water anything down. Maybe not Scotch, but I don't drink that when really thirsty. I drink that when I'm profoundly wise and amazingly strong and really good looking, or maybe that comes later.
Alcohol is a diuretic because it inhibits the release of ADH, or anti diuretic hormone. So your kidneys continue to produce a very dilute (read light straw colored/clear) urine even though you are dehydrated, or on your way to becoming dehydrated. For most people a beer is not enough alcohol to inhibit enough ADH to cause a problem. I'd bet though that most people on a backpacking trip are just a little dehydrated after a day on the trail, but not enough for a beer to mess you up. I say if you wanna carry it, kick back and enjoy it.
I'm not sure if anything rehydrates better than water, unless of course you are low on salt or low on energy also. Soup is great. So is a big pot of skim milk tea. Yeah I know tea is a diuretic also, but it seems to get the job started anyway. Then bring on the soup. One beer seems to help also, but of course man can't live by beer alone, or something like that.
Darwin again
06-05-2009, 10:26
The salt your body exudes is sodium chloride, which is produced as a waste by-product; your body actually needs elemental sodium, which is not the same as the "salt" (NaCl3) you find in, say, a bag of chips. It's the sodium in the sodium chloride that the body needs (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/308247/how_salt_effects_the_body.html).
The alcohol in beer is probably not worth the trouble it causes. It effects very specific chemical and hormonal balances within the body in ways not conducive to walking. (http://www.thesite.org/drinkanddrugs/drinking/responsibledrinking/whatdrinkdoes) Quote from the link:
"Alcohol is a diuretic. This means it encourages the body to lose more water than it takes on by halting the production of the body's anti-diuretic hormone. This means you feel the need to pee excessively, thus speeding up the loss of fluid from the body that leads to dehydration. Alcohol also attacks our stores of vitamins and minerals, which need to be in the correct balance for the body to function normally. Dehydration caused by drinking can affect the balance by draining potassium from the body, resulting in thirst, muscle cramps, dizziness and faintness."
Backpacker is a joke, btw. It's the outdoors version of Mad Magazine. Taking advice you find in it can get you in big trouble, even if it's a harmless joke. Alcohol puts your body out of whack, no matter how much water you mix with it. What matters is the absolute amount of alcohol you drink, not how much water (beer base) you mix it with!
The more you know...:D
The idea of carrying a porter (8%) or barley wine (12%) would be so that you wouldn't have to carry so much weight in order to have a pale ale (4%) at the end of the day. I'm not saying there is neccessarily anything healthy about having a pint of 4% beer at the end of a long hiking day, or even at noon with half your miles still to go, but it certainly won't do much harm. It wouldn't have the same carbonation, but that's not totally all that important. For a 3 day hike one litre of barley wine would make for a pint of pale ale twice a day for all 3 days, and that might be a fun thing to do. Barly wine is made like you would a pale ale, with just malt extract and hops and no added sugar, but 1/3 the ammount of water. Fermentation will probably stop at around 10%, so it will still be a little sweet, but once you dilute it 2:1 with cold spring water it might be just the ticket, maybe add a squeeze of lemon or lime, and call it a shanty. Then you could mix it down even further as shanties are typically 5% beer knocked down to 2.5% with lemonaide or ginger beer. Just saying you don't have to get totally smashed to get a nice buzz, and a light buzz is probably healthy now and then, psycologically. I would rather be a good liver than have one. ;)
vonfrick
06-05-2009, 14:27
I believe we should trust science on this. Give me half your beer.
:mad: no way buddy
Buzz_Lightfoot
06-05-2009, 15:39
The idea of carrying a porter (8%).....
That's be best idea yet, have a porter to carry your beer for you!:sun
bullseye
06-05-2009, 15:49
Funny, Backpacker generally has little or no credibility with gear, but tell a a bunch of hikers that Backpacker says to hydrate with beer before a hike and suddenly they're the pinnacle of cutting edge technology:-?:rolleyes::D!
Funny, Backpacker generally has little or no credibility with gear, but tell a a bunch of hikers that Backpacker says to hydrate with beer before a hike and suddenly they're the pinnacle of cutting edge technology:-?:rolleyes::D!
I definitely take issue with that advice, myself. Beer is a post-hike recovery drink.
johnnybgood
06-05-2009, 19:10
I definitely take issue with that advice, myself. Beer is a post-hike recovery drink.
Marta, I'm there with you on that one.
Rockhound
06-05-2009, 19:14
So before you hit the trail this weekend fill that hydration bladder with your favorite brewskie.
The so called experts at Backpacker attribute this to the sugars and salt found in beer .
With all the carbohydrates in beer helping to restore used up reserves its no wonder a cold one tastes so good after climbing mountains all day.
Moderate consumption at 500ml a day is suggested. 250 ml for the lady hikers.
Uh huh , RIGHT :rolleyes:
Dammit Johnny Give it to me in ounces. What's with this metric crap.
World-Wide
06-06-2009, 10:25
So before you hit the trail this weekend fill that hydration bladder with your favorite brewskie.
The so called experts at Backpacker attribute this to the sugars and salt found in beer .
With all the carbohydrates in beer helping to restore used up reserves its no wonder a cold one tastes so good after climbing mountains all day.
Moderate consumption at 500ml a day is suggested. 250 ml for the lady hikers.
Uh huh , RIGHT :rolleyes:
Any studies done on Captain's and Coke?? :D http://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:l2fWqoPXD-bM_M::intoxicologist.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/captain-morgan.jpg (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://intoxicologist.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/captain-morgan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://intoxicologist.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/media-release-captain-morgan-and-stacy-keibler-offer-players-chance-to-get-a-leg-up-during-sundays-game/&h=636&w=506&sz=123&tbnid=l2fWqoPXD-bM_M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcaptain%2Bmorgan%2Bpics&usg=__YpfpBPT3RUytorE6WHqXvDCQ5UU=&ei=BHwqSrTjAZSGkQWf6vTeCg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image)
I have heard people say for years that beer dehydrates you and that was the cause of hangovers.
Not true. If you drink 6 beers thats almost 70 ounces of water. If you put that much water in you, then you're hydrated (in most cases). Anyone ever inspect their urine when drinking a lot. It's clear, not yellow. Yellow urine indicates dehydration.
I still wouldn't recommend more than 2 beers in a day, but not because it will dehydrate you, just because I don't want to run into you when you're all drunk and obnoxious on the trail.
Regardless of how much water you try to compensate with, having alcohol in your blood will dehydrate you. Your kidneys will get rid of the water. ;)
joehiker22
06-06-2009, 15:20
I wish I could drink cold beers all day while hiking instead of water!
Only after many beers . Moderation on the trail should be no more than 1 beer.
Shhyeah! Like that's gonna happen. :rolleyes:
Wise Old Owl
06-06-2009, 17:12
Funny how when I section hike the trail always comes to a pub,
gravy4601
06-06-2009, 21:31
beer is to heavy to carry i always carry a traveler of Jim Beem or small bottle of Makers and some tang to chase it with but after a few shots who needs the chaser anyway
Dammit Johnny Give it to me in ounces. What's with this metric crap.
Ounces, h*&&!
Try pints.
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
Benjamin Franklin
Wise Old Owl
06-08-2009, 21:51
:bananaUh Jim Beam und Tang? "Gravy" Beem is Beam not .... Ohhh Forget it!
how do yall think i got my trail name? i chugged like 4-5 beers in 2-3 hours hiking out of NOC, the 'infamous' hike up.
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy"
Benjamin Franklin
One of my husband's favorite quotations.
MyName1sMud
06-09-2009, 17:22
Heck yes! Even better of a reason to drink!