this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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How much does drinking after a workout affect recovery and growth?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Alcohol is a diuretic, but your average beer is like 5% alcohol and 90% water (and 5% other stuff). Beer at 0.1% alcohol is going to hydrate you more than it dehydrated you, and a shot of 151 will dehydrate you more than it hydrates you. There exists, for any given person at a specific time, a percentage where the effects of the alcohol and the water level out. From what I've read, that percentage is typically higher than your normal beer.

When it comes to optimizing performance/recovery, I can't imagine alcohol doing anything good. Personally, I might be inclined to avoid alcohol after a hard workout where I feel like crap, but I'm not going to not have a celebratory beer after finishing a big race or something.