Maybe it’s obvious to you. But wishful thinking can be a powerful force for distortion. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to think that tossing down a bottle of beer after a sweaty workout was actually the healthy thing to do?

And some people have claimed just that, notably an article in the Telegraph newspaper.

In a rare piece of good news for those who like a pint, Spanish researchers say beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water.

Prof Manuel Garzon, of Granada University, also claimed the bubbles in beer help to quench the thirst and that its carbohydrate content can help to replace lost calories.

Such reports have encouraged athletes to try quenching their thirst with beer, Luis Fernando Aragón-Vargas, told me.  I met  Aragón-Vargas at the American College of Sports Medicine meeting a couple of months ago. He is a professor of human movement science at the University of Costa Rica and was Continue reading Why Beer Doesn’t Make a Good Sports Drink →