A recent study by the Center for Research in Human Movement Sciences (CIMOHU) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) contradicts previous studies on beer by stating that it does not have hydrating properties .
Does beer -with alcohol- contribute to the rehydration process of the human body? This was the starting point of the investigation. To answer this, they carried out an experiment with 11 men accustomed to doing sports and with appropriate physical conditions to withstand dehydration through exercise, with the aim of losing up to 2% of their body mass . Once achieved, participants were provided alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic beer, and water on different days.
After analyzing the rehydration process with each of the drinks, the researchers determined that beer with alcohol not only did not help to recover the water lost after sweating but also impaired reflexes (the reaction time increased by two hundredths of a second ) and the equilibrium of the subject (decreased by 36%).
“Our main objective is to make people understand that beer with alcohol is not a hydrating agent, as some popular beliefs indicate, we want people to be aware that they can drink a beer after playing sports, but that it is necessary that look for other drinks with scientifically proven capacities to cause this effect ”, says Rebeca Flores, researcher at the UCR and co-author of the study.
