But here’s a study that goes one better and suggests that drinking beer after exercise  improves your hydration better than drinking water would.

The study from Spain is a couple of years old and I haven’t seen any follow-up studies which makes it difficult to judge it’s accuracy.

So have a read and see what you think.

The study done by researchers at Granada University in Spain tested 25 students over several months, asking them to run on a treadmill at 104F temperatures until they were close to exhaustion. At that point, their level of hydration, concentration, and motor skills were measurd.

Then half of the students were given 2 half pints of Spanish lager to drink and the remaining students were given just water.

The study found that those who drank the beer had a slightly better rehydration effection than those who drink only water. 

The researchers believe this is because the contents of the beer – sugars and salts – quickens the absorption of fluids.  Further more, they think that the bubbles, caused by carbon dioxide, quenches thirst and carbohydrates in the beer replace calories lost in exercise.

Based on these results, the Spanish researchers went on to recommend moderate consumption of beer as a part of athletes’ diets. Their definition of  moderate consumption being 500 mls per day for men and 250 mls per day for women.

So what do you think?

Should we being having a pre-exercise coffee and a post-exercise beer?

Don’t know about you but it all sounds too much for me!

(image source)

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MSNBC led with a new study reporting how Stinky farts may help regulate blood pressure. Seems that a smelly rotten-egg gas (scientific name – hydrogen sulfide) in farts controls blood pressure, at least in mice. This gas, made natural in cells lining the mice’s blood vessels, apparently relaxes the blood vessels which, in turn, helps prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). Wow, wonder if this will open up a whole new avenue of treatments for hypertension based on ’stinky farts”?

Meanwhile, the Telegraph wrote about how Drinking too much coffee ‘could shrink women’s breasts’,  based on a recent Swedish study which focused on the caffeine consumption and breast size of 300 women. After recording the number of cups of coffee per day a woman drank and measuring the size of her bust, the study concluded ‘too much caffeine can affect the hormones in their bodies, scientists believe, playing havoc with their bust size.’  Honestly, I’m not making this up.

And last, but not least, FoxNews wrote about Researchers Brewing Up a Cancer-Fighting Beer.  At Rice University in Houston, researchers are trying to find a way to add resveratrol, the same compound that is said to give red wine its health benefits, to beer. It’s probably going to take some genetic engineering, but they’re determined to produce a good tasting, cancer fighting beer for your drinking pleasure. Only in Texas!

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Happy Sexbolt Saturday, everyone!

I have a feeling that for some of you, hitting the bars and lounges is on your To-Do list for this evening, am I right? And for some of you, hooking up might also be on that very same list.

Well, let me say that it’s only because I care about you and your reputation that I’m informing you it has now been proven as a scientific fact that the oft-feared “beer goggles” are really for real. Really.

The scoop? When people have been drinking, others appear more attractive to them. And not just members of the opposite sex. Nope, when heterosexual subjects who had been drinking were shown photos of same-sex folks, they also rated those people as being more attractive. I guess now we know why Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” became an instant bar fave, eh?

While this info is not really all that surprising (considering t-shirts that beckon you to ‘Keep Drinking Until I’m Hot’ have made the rounds for years), it’s still pretty cool that the medical community recognizes this phenomenon and now we feel a little more vindicated for having succumbed to the force of the all-mighty beer goggle once or twice.

So have fun this weekend, my sexy friends. Just be sure you and your designated driver (and hottie-checker) work out some sort of signal if your find your eyes becoming a little fuzzy before a hook-up.

Cheers!

Post from: Healthbolt

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Don’t you just love when your favorite “bad” foods suddenly appear with a glowing halo hovering above them? Yeah, me too. Makes my day.

Like today. Suddenly that steak craving I’ve been having is validated, as is the beer I’m sure to consume throughout the weekend. Why, you ask? Why, I’m so glad you asked. Please, allow me to share:

Steak builds muscles. Okay, so you may not become the next Ah-nold (or Arnold-ette) by sidling up at the nearest steakhouse, but you’ll be happy to know that women who at 10 oz. of lean beef every day lost more weight than women who ate the same amount of calories, sans the meat. Why? Because meat contains amino acids that help maintain muscle, and we all know that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn (y’all do know that right? Right?)

Beer lowers BMI. Hallelujah for that fabulous Nurses’ Health Study. It found that women who drink one to two glasses of liquid gold (aka beer), wine, or liquor per day had a 15% lower BMI (body mass index) than those who abstain. Why? Alcohol helps regulate insulin levels, which then regulate weight. Of course, everything in moderation, my dear friends. More than two drinks a day can actually cause weight gain and increase your risk of assorted diseases. Not cool.

So isn’t this great news, right in time for Happy Hour? You betcha! Glad I could help. Now you can enjoy your weekend – guilt free!

Want to know more about Beer with Benefits? Check out Health and Men for the skinny.

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After all, when you drink alcohol you are depleting your Vitamin B. So what better way to get it back than in the product that’s taking it away. That’s the theory, apparently, behind Filipino inventer Billy L Malang’s Vitamin-B enhanced beer. Although not yet on the market, this beer won a gold medal at the 2004 Eurpoean Union sponsored Genius -Europe competition and was a hit at the recent Inventors Day Convention in Bangkok.

He claims that his is the first Vitamin Beer, but that’s not exactly true. Stampade Beers of Texas not only developed but also marketed their own vitamin beer back in 2006. Aimed at attracting the active, healthy consumer, Stampede Plus was always silent about what was in it’s drink, stating “…the government doesn’t let us tell you explicitly what the extra (plus) is.”

And back in 2002, the Scottish government was discussing the possibility of having brewers add the vitamin thiamin to beer, believing that doing this could to prevent some forms of alcohol-related brain damage. But nothing seemed to eventuate.

But here’s an interesting fact. Beer is already a good source of B vitamins due to it’s high content of brewers yeast. It’s just that the filtering process it goes through during it’s production, plus the alcohol itself, reduces the body’s ability to activate these vitamins.

So does that mean that home brew will be rich in B vitamins ?

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