How about a cold, tall, frosty beer after an intense workout to soothe your muscle? Have you seen beers handing out at the end of the marathons and fitness professionals doing bottom ups on beer? This is enough to confuse people either drinking beer can make or break your bodybuilding. Here we discuss about the top 5 benefits of beer for bodybuilders
Is beer good for bodybuilding? Just like your protein supplements can you trust beer for not sabotaging your bodybuilding journey? The answer is yes, but that should be in moderation. There should be a balance between beer and bodybuilding.
Beer is loaded with energy promoting B vitamins and absorbs carbs quickly, which can help you to stick to your fitness regimen via social strengthening, and will not impact your hydration.
However, any alcoholic beverage comes with a risk. It suppresses protein synthesis by 24 percent after people consumed 71grams of alcohol (equivalent to 5 glasses of beer). But, in moderation, there is no such effect. The protein synthesis was not suppressed with just 28grams of alcohol (2 glasses of beer).
So, let us find out how you can build your body while enjoying a glass of beer too.
History Of Beer
Beer is made by extracting raw materials like barley malt with water boiling and fermenting it with yeast. Fermentation gives beer refreshing bubbles and alcohol.
Beer has been an essential part of the human diet for centuries. Before 6000 BCE, beer was produced from barley in Babylonia and Sumer. And during the Middle Ages, brewing became a craft.
How Much is Moderate Drinking When It Comes To Beer?
Want to balance bodybuilding and beer? Moderate alcohol for healthy adults is up to two drinks for men and one drink a day for women.
Following recommendation is per day for health reasons.
- Beer: 355 mm
- Spirits: 44 mm
- Wine: 148 mm
Top 5 Benefits of Beer For the Bodybuilder
The history of beer dates back to Neolithic times, which coincides with the beginning of the farming. Archaeologists speculate that the beer was instrumental in the beginning of civilizations. During the building of Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt each worker got a daily ration of four to five liters of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment. Even today, beer helps refresh our workout warriors in more ways than one.
Stay More Regular To Your Workout Schedule
Whether you believe it or not, but scientific studies have proved that drinking moderately (a glass of beer) makes you more regular to your workout schedule. A 2001 study highlights the fact that men and women who drank moderately (a drink a day) were twice as likely to exercise regularly as teetotalers. In order to untangle the relationship between drinking and exercising all the more, Pennsylvania State University, in the most scientifically ambitious of the new studies, turned to a representative group of 150 adult men and women age 18 to 75 who already were enrolled in an ongoing, long-term health study at the university.
Beer Hydrates Better Than Water
Spanish researchers at Granda University have found that fizzy bubbles and carbs in the chilled glass of beer hydrate better than water. The study involved a group of students who were asked to work out until their body temperature reached 104 degrees. Researchers then gave beer to half of the students and water to the other half. The hydration effect of those who drank beer was more than water, but it will be definitely less than your protein shake because the protein shake has 20g or more protein in a serving. When you mix it with water, you not only get hydrated but also get required amino acids to trigger recovery.
Build Strong Bones With Beer
A 2007 study published in Nutritional Health and Aging found that dietary silicon was crucial for bone and skeletal tissue strength. Beer contains a high level of malted barley and hops. Both these foods are the rich sources of silicon. According to the National Institutes of Health, dietary silicon is important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue and it helps reduce the risk of bone-thinning disease.
Beers with lots of malts had the most silicon, with barley containing more of it than wheat did. The scientists found lesser amounts of silicon in hops, which add spiciness and flavour to the beer.
Beer is Anti-Inflammatory
Muscle inflammation is common for marathon runners and the solution could be just a beer away. A new study from a group of German and American researchers have recruited 277 marathoners and asked each to drink approximately 1 to 1.5 litres of non-alcoholic wheat beer (2.81 to 4.22 bottles) or a specially designed placebo drink with the same amount of calories and carbs. The participants drank the test liquids every day for 3 weeks and for two weeks following the race. After the marathon, the researchers measured the participants’ levels of muscle inflammation and their signs of respiratory distress, a common post-race condition.
The beer drinkers were more than three times less likely to experience upper-respiratory infection, and their markers for inflammation were 20 to 32 percent lower than the placebo group. The presence of polyphenols, an antioxidant compound in beer led to this miracle.
The point to note is that the researchers used non-alcoholic beer and the participants drank copious amounts of this drink. But, you can speed up your muscle recovery with glutamine.
Good Source Of Vitamin B & Quick Carbs
Vitamin B
Vitamin B plays a major role in cell function and energy metabolism. They convert the energy from food into forms that can be used to support oxygen transport. It also helps maintain brain cells, skin cells, and body tissues. They improve recovery time and repair damaged muscles.
Before gulping down your beer for vitamin B, remember that this is for one serving. Drinking too much beer can deplete the B vitamins you already have.
Quick Carbs
Without proper fuel to the muscles, if you have an intense workout, the muscles will use the glycogen, stored form of glucose as fuel. This results in the muscles depletion and some muscle proteins break down, the opposite of what you need in bodybuilding.
According to a study, having 0.5 to 0.7 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight within half an hour after a workout will help you restore glycogen and prevent muscle wasting.
A single serving (12 ounces) of beer contains around 7 to 14 grams of carbs and lighter beer contains low as 2 grams. So depending on how hard you trained and your weight, beer can be a good option for replenishing your carb energy.
When to Avoid Beer After a Workout
No matter if an adequate amount of beer is good for health but there are certain situations when drinking beer is not advised, for example, hard gainers that are trying to build muscle mass for a competition or an event should not consume beer. If you try to stay healthy by working out regularly, a drink or two of beer is not going to impact your health. A study published in 2014 in the journal Sports Medicine has mentioned the limit for less than 0.5g of alcohol per kg of weight, which translates into 2 bottles of beer for a 68 kg male.
To avoid sabotaging your muscle-building goal, make sure to have your whey protein immediately after a workout, if you plan a night out with your friends after the gym, to prevent your hard work going to waste.
Conclusion:
Drinking may increase the risk of addiction if you are unable to control yourself when you drink. This can negatively impact your health, relationships, and work. So, make sure you have beer only if you can control to avoid any negative effects on your body.
Read Also: What’s Alcohol-Induced Weight Gain? Understanding the Science
Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4362843/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26056515
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658806/
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