Merged This Just In - Water is NOT wet!

[Georg]

No, that dehydrates you.
Epic Fail.

http://www.examiner.com/nutrition-in-national/study-best-beverage-after-a-workout-is-beer

Study: Best beverage after a workout is—beer?

For some people, nothing quenches a big thirst better than a frosty beer. Yet, when that big thirst is the result of exercise or playing a vigorous sport, the best thing to drink is water or a sports beverage such as Gatorade, which restores levels of electrolytes. At least so the experts have long told us.

But now a new study by researchers at Granada University in Spain suggests the previous “experts” may have been wrong. Manuel Garzon, who headed up the research team, maintains that the bubbles in beer help quench thirst at the same time the carbohydrate content helps replace lost calories.

For the study, Garzon asked a group of students to perform strenuous exercise in temperatures of around 104ºF. Half the subjects were given a pint of beer after the workout, the other half the same quantity of plain water. Garzon said the hydration effect in those who drank the beer was "slightly better."

Juan Antonio Corbalán, a cardiologist who formerly worked with Real Madrid soccer players and Spain's national basketball team, insists that beer has the “perfect profile” for a rehydrating beverage after sports. Corbalán adds that he has long advocated the drinking of barley-based beverages by professional athletes.

 

[arthwollipot]

The problem with beer is that it's a diuretic. Beer doesn't dehydrate you, the peeing does.

 

[casebro]

I guess the article in the OP doesn't mention the placebo ? What kind of scientists are you guys anyhow, to forget about the control group?

Tap water was used as the control, and the bottled water was no better than the placebo at re-hydrating.

 

[casebro]

Lately they've backed off on the claim that coffee dehydrates. Seems you only pee away the excess fluid you've taken in in that liter of coffee. I know that at my latedt blood pressure check, the nurse asked whether I had any coffee- within 20 minutes. NOT long acting, is it?

Beer, I wonder about. At 3-4% alcohol vs the 90% water, does the diuretic effect actually accomplish more than getting rid of that nearly one gallon of water? If so, by what volume does the diuretic effect exceed one gallon? I suspect that drinking while working at physical activity, the metabolic water makes up the difference.

 

[Aepervius]

The telegraph is misleading. If you dig around you will see that the claim (on water) was misleading, and borderline wrong. It was jsut simply prepped up and put in a different light by the telegraph simply because they wanted to put EU in a bad light. I am surprised that so many people in this thread fell for it.

 

[Beerina]

Hmm odd I can not find anything from the EFSA from Feb that seems to match the contents of the story

I did find http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/11/eu-bans-claim-drinking-water-can.html

Which quotes : Prof Brian Ratcliffe, spokesman for the Nutrition Society, said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water.

I read that too -- it looks like a reasonable quote out of context. You could get an IV, after all. Or eat some food, especially fruit.

Still, dehydration isn't all that much of a problem and "preventing" it in the general population through the prophylaxis of bottled water is rather pointless, and thus a spurious claim.

 

[Tatyana]

Which appears to be taken from the same article in the OP.

There's a bit more sense in this Guardian blog:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2011/nov/18/1

Snap.

The Telegraph isn't always the best paper.

Daft hysteria over the EU's ruling on water and dehydration

The EU has not said that water isn't healthy, and it's ruling on the vexatious claim that bottled water can prevent dehydration is perfectly sensible

 

[Beerina]

I wonder how one can remain adequately hydrated without consuming products containing water?

Eating. Sufficient water comes in that way. And what you drink with dinner should be more than enough to top it off, combined with drinking water when thirsty.

I suppose the issue was using bottled water, drunken regularly, to prevent dehydration in the general populace in normal, daily life. Not exercising or struggling through a desert.

That claim, to prevent dehydration (in that context) does indeed seem like fraud to me the more I think about it. Remember the bottled water people aren't after the occasional person doing exercise or hiking, but rather the average person walking or sitting around, who doesn't need it because they are not in fear of dehydration.


If it was prophylactic against anything, bottled water should come with this claim:

"This product will prevent you from having to get off your butt and walk over to the sink to get a glass of water, should you feel thirsty. For this you pay approximately 5000x as much as you do for the water from the sink. And we won't even get into the asininity of the plastic bottles everywhere for freakin' water."

One must also keep in mind that, in Europe, people don't generally drink water from the sink -- my apartment had water that was visibly brown. So they only drink liquids from bottles, or boiled, filtered water, ala coffee. So claims on bottles would have bigger impact there.

 

[Tatyana]

*coughs*

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dehydration/Pages/Treatment.aspx

Infants and children who are dehydrated shouldn't be given water as the main replacement fluid because it can further dilute the minerals in their body and make the problem worse. Instead, they should be given diluted squash, diluted fruit juice or a special rehydration solution.

If you're dehydrated, you will have lost sugar and salts as well as water. Drinking a rehydration solution will enable you to re-establish the right balance of body fluids. The solution should contain a mixture of potassium and sodium salts, as well as glucose or starch.

 

[Georg]

The problem with beer is that it's a diuretic. Beer doesn't dehydrate you, the peeing does.

Well, I guess that's what Bill meant. Since I do not have any problems with my way of liquid consumption, the diuretic effect does not seem to be too strong. That changes when I drink much more beer, though. Much more meaning maybe 10 pints. Perhaps we Bavarians have different body functions : My father does not drink any water at all except in summer and after sauna, only coffee and beer. He's 71 and healthy.

Lately they've backed off on the claim that coffee dehydrates. Seems you only pee away the excess fluid you've taken in in that liter of coffee.

Yep:

Contrary to popular belief, caffeine does not act as a diuretic when consumed in moderation, and does not lead to dehydration or to a water-electrolyte imbalance; current evidence suggests that caffeinated beverages contribute to the body's daily fluid requirements no differently from pure water.[30][31][32][33]

Beer, I wonder about. At 3-4% alcohol vs the 90% water, does the diuretic effect actually accomplish more than getting rid of that nearly one gallon of water?

See above. Btw., beer has an average of 5 % alcohol where I live .

 

[Pup]

*coughs*

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dehydration/Pages/Treatment.aspxshouldn't be given water as the main replacement fluid because it can further dilute the minerals in their body and make the problem worse.

Yeah, without even reading the link in the OP, it seemed obvious. Plain water won't prevent dehydration because it lacks electrolytes. If you sweat out (or, more slowly, pee out) electrolytes and water, and take in just water, you're making your body less and less salty, and that's not good.

There have been a few deaths from marathon runners trying to prevent dehydration from drinking water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication#Endurance_sports

Any activity or situation that promotes heavy sweating can lead to water intoxication when water is consumed to replace lost fluids. Persons working in extreme heat and/or humidity for long periods must take care to drink and eat in ways that help to maintain electrolyte balance

 

[casebro]

See above. Btw., beer has an average of 5 % alcohol where I live .

What I drink is usually 6-7, but it is my own home brew. ;^°

 

[truethat]

Couldn't it be as simple as it being the words "Prevents dehydration." One bottle of water will not prevent dehydration any more than one shot of insulin prevents diabetes.

 

[Georg]

What I drink is usually 6-7, but it is my own home brew. ;^°

I'd love to try it.......

 

[svenax]

http://www.examiner.com/nutrition-in-national/study-best-beverage-after-a-workout-is-beer

See, I've been right all this time! I always finish my gym passes with a beer or two in the sauna. And maybe a few more in the pub afterwards. Keeps my body in shape, it does.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

So The Torygraph lies about a perfectly reasonable EU regulation by spinning it into a pile of nonsense that wasn't at all what the EU actually said?

Good lord, is it Tuesday already?

 

[Lamuella]

Is it sad that my initial reaction on seeing the OP was "Hmm, a Telegraph story about the EU, let's see in which particular way this turns out to be bollocks"?

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Is it sad that my initial reaction on seeing the OP was "Hmm, a Telegraph story about the EU, let's see in which particular way this turns out to be bollocks"?

Yes, but only because the Telegraph is slipping deeper into the mire of bad journalism.

As the Mail and Express slip deeper the Telegraph races downhill to catch them up.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

A few years ago, a student at California State University at Chico was killed during a fraternity hazing ritual. Apparently, he and a friend were coerced to drink gallons and gallons of plain water. Eventually, after peeing out so much of his body's electrolytes, he went into shock and died. Some of the fraternity members served time in prison for their roles in the tragedy.
Ironically, they were under the impression that this was a "safe" alternative to the more physical hazing practices of the past. The idea that they could just stop these stupid, juvenile activities altogether never occurred to them.

 

[Moon-Spinner]

A few years ago, a student at California State University at Chico was killed during a fraternity hazing ritual. Apparently, he and a friend were coerced to drink gallons and gallons of plain water. Eventually, after peeing out so much of his body's electrolytes, he went into shock and died. Some of the fraternity members served time in prison for their roles in the tragedy.
Ironically, they were under the impression that this was a "safe" alternative to the more physical hazing practices of the past. The idea that they could just stop these stupid, juvenile activities altogether never occurred to them.

I remember that incident.

Then there was the radio station incident...

Woman dies after water drinking contest