You may think beer wouldn’t be harmful as long as you don’t drink too much. And you don’t even get drunk. So why not just chill? In summer, having a beer really refreshes you and quenches your thirst, right?
Especially if you are the kind of person who doesn’t really like water, you may think beer might be quite a good alternative for you.
The problem is, beer doesn’t hydrate you. Instead, it dehydrates you. A person who weighs 60kg normally produces about 60ml of urine. But if he takes one glass of beer, an additional 120ml of urine is produced. The overproduction of urine leads to dehydration.
You may wonder, people in the ancient time drank beer like water, why didn’t they have any problems?
It is true that a long time ago beer was used as a cleaner alternative to bacteria-infected water. People only drank beer and survived. However, unlike ancient beer, with only about 0.5% alcohol, modern beer contains about 4-6% alcohol.
When alcohol of such concentration enters our bodies, an anti-diuretic hormone called ADH is released. It then increases the amount of urine we produce.
So every time you drink a beer, remember to pay extra attention to hydrate yourself. Remember beer would never hydrate you. To minimize the consequences, every time you drink a beer, drink the same amount of water.
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