Truth or myth: non-alcoholic beer can help you recover from a workout

You can find all sorts of fitness flyhacks on the internet. Some of them really work, while others look rather dubious. One of the most common tips is to drink non-alcoholic beer immediately after a workout. Allegedly, the drink helps the body to recover faster after heavy loads. Whether this is actually true, says certified nutritionist and personal trainer Andrei Semeshov.

Beer or water?

The first question to pay attention to is how beer affects the water-salt balance? It is known that alcoholic beverages have a diuretic effect. Therefore, it can be assumed that ordinary beer will only aggravate dehydration after active sweating during exercise. However, this is not entirely true.

In a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2015, scientists asked 16 male volunteers to perform a vigorous jog in a lab filled with hot air. Afterward, participants were offered either mineral water only or beer and water. The runners repeated the task once for each condition, three weeks apart. It turned out that beer did not affect any of the monitored indicators, and the researchers concluded that moderate beer consumption combined with a small amount of water does not disturb the water-salt balance.

According to the nutritionist, it is better to use special sports drinks, and the most correct approach would be a balanced diet and enough water.

How does alcohol affect muscles?

A study conducted in 2014 with eight men showed how drinking alcohol for three hours affected muscle protein synthesis. During the experiment, participants performed weight-bearing exercises and cycled. In addition, the study tested how alcohol affected the body with different types of meals: whey protein after exercise, protein plus alcohol, and carbohydrates plus alcohol. It turned out that alcohol consumption, even along with protein meals, suppresses the anabolic response in skeletal muscles and therefore may impair recovery after exercise.

However, another study examined the effects of beer alone on physical activity. The results showed that drinking the hoppy beverage had no negative effects on muscle fibers. But it doesn’t do any good either.

Nutriciologist believes that for muscle recovery, it is necessary to consume sufficient proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the next 24 hours after training. This is the most effective means of building muscle fibers.

The conclusion is quite simple: beer will do no good and no harm to your body after a workout. Sure, you can drink it if you feel like it. But you should not expect it to bring any positive results.

Andrey: If the goal is to lose weight, then non-alcoholic beer is just a drink with 20-30 kcal per 100 grams, i.e. a half-liter bottle is 100-150 kcal. In my opinion, for a feeling of fullness in the stomach, these calories – and their amount on a diet is reduced in one way or another – are better given, for example, under a vegetable salad with chicken or a piece of fish.