Science never ceases to amaze. Researchers at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, tested the effects of beer as a post exercise fluid replacement drink. You might know another popular fluid them exercise until they lost about 2% of their body weight through sweat. On four separate occasions these students drank either low alcohol beer (2.3%ABV), regular beer (4.8%ABV) or these same beers with added salt. Each student drank about two liters of beer post exercise. The beers used were XXXX light (2.3%) and XXXX Bitter (4.8%); both beers have stellar reviews on ratebeer. What they found was that the light beer with salt was the best at helping to replace lost fluids. Conversely the regular, unsalted, beer lead to further fluid loss. But sadly, all beverages failed to adequately restore lost fluid after exercise.
replacement drink: Gatoraid. These university funded scientists found seven lucky students and made
The big question is why study this salty beer/exercise thing anyways? According to the researcher's introduction, "athletes have consumed beer as part of their post-match celebration or decades." Furthermore, "despite beer commonly being consumed in large volumes after exercise, there is little known of its capacity to replace fluid lost during exercise." So there you have it. After a long bike ride reach for a Gose and not a stout.