Beer
Author
Discussion

Timmy40

Original Poster:

13,014 posts

227 months

Monday 17th August 2015
quotequote all
I like beer. I like beer a lot. Wine I don't really bother with, or spirits.

I realise drinking lots of beer is not ideal, nor is eating chips and drinking coffee. But there we are. I'm curious......if I do drink wine or spirits I know about it the next day ( feel rough ), if I drink a few pints of beer, say 3 pints of an evening I feel fine the next morning.

Is it in some way less harmful to drink beer than wines/spirits? Or just the same? Are we evolved to cope with the level of alcohol in beer generally 4%, but not the much more concentrated alcohol in wine or spirits?

It always seems to me that people who are alcoholics to the extent it really causes them issues are onto spirits. Is it like the difference between marijuana and hard drugs?


Mastodon2

14,322 posts

194 months

Monday 17th August 2015
quotequote all
Timmy40 said:
I like beer. I like beer a lot. Wine I don't really bother with, or spirits.

I realise drinking lots of beer is not ideal, nor is eating chips and drinking coffee. But there we are. I'm curious......if I do drink wine or spirits I know about it the next day ( feel rough ), if I drink a few pints of beer, say 3 pints of an evening I feel fine the next morning.

Is it in some way less harmful to drink beer than wines/spirits? Or just the same? Are we evolved to cope with the level of alcohol in beer generally 4%, but not the much more concentrated alcohol in wine or spirits?

It always seems to me that people who are alcoholics to the extent it really causes them issues are onto spirits. Is it like the difference between marijuana and hard drugs?
Well, you seem to have the wrong end of the stick on quick a few points there. Drinking beer is bad for your body, much worse than coffee. Whatever is happening to cause you to feel "fine" the morning after drinking beer is moot, your liver is taking a beating just the same as it would be if you drank the same amount of alcohol from wine or spirits. It's no less harmful. We're not "evolved" to cope with alcohol in our diets in any way. Plenty of alcoholics drink beer or cider and are suffering the effects of it. Beer to spirits is in no way comparable to marijuana and hard drugs, beer as a way of imbibing alcohol simply means drinking more fluid to intake the same amount of alcohol. The damage to the body is the same either way, whether you feel great the next day or not.

bearman68

4,929 posts

161 months

Monday 17th August 2015
quotequote all
Timmy40 said:
I like beer. I like beer a lot. Wine I don't really bother with, or spirits.

I realise drinking lots of beer is not ideal, nor is eating chips and drinking coffee. But there we are. I'm curious......if I do drink wine or spirits I know about it the next day ( feel rough ), if I drink a few pints of beer, say 3 pints of an evening I feel fine the next morning.

Is it in some way less harmful to drink beer than wines/spirits? Or just the same? Are we evolved to cope with the level of alcohol in beer generally 4%, but not the much more concentrated alcohol in wine or spirits?

It always seems to me that people who are alcoholics to the extent it really causes them issues are onto spirits. Is it like the difference between marijuana and hard drugs?
Dave, is that you? See you like beer so much you've only got yourself engaged over the weekend.
....and you're a grumpy bugger in work after beer. Dave???? Dave??

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

174 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
I'm with you on the fact that if I drink beer, and more specifically ale as opposed to mass produced lager, the hangover is nowhere near as bad as other booze. Thing is though I think it is a bit more self limiting than other drinks purely because of the volumes involved and the time it takes to drink a pint.

There is no doubt that alcohol makes you dehydrated but because of the amount of water in beer your body is absorbing some of that whilst your drinking to compensate. With wine and spirits there is obviously a much higher alcohol to water ratio so you get significantly more dehydrated which is part of what makes you feel rough the next day.

My problem is that I rarely stick to beer alone, on a session there is usually a temptation to sample some of the top shelf at some point late on in the evening biggrin

Having kids has put paid to most of my drunkenness anyway, nothing worse than a hangover with a 2 & 4 year old climbing all over you laugh

Timmy40

Original Poster:

13,014 posts

227 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
C0ffin D0dger said:
Having kids has put paid to most of my drunkenness anyway, nothing worse than a hangover with a 2 & 4 year old climbing all over you laugh
Now that I can relate too. I seldom ( if ever ) drink enough to feel rough the next day as I tend to be the one who gets up with the kids in the morning.

LordGrover

34,156 posts

241 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
C0ffin D0dger said:
I'm with you on the fact that if I drink beer, and more specifically ale as opposed to mass produced lager, the hangover is nowhere near as bad as other booze. Thing is though I think it is a bit more self limiting than other drinks purely because of the volumes involved and the time it takes to drink a pint.

There is no doubt that alcohol makes you dehydrated but because of the amount of water in beer your body is absorbing some of that whilst your drinking to compensate. With wine and spirits there is obviously a much higher alcohol to water ratio so you get significantly more dehydrated which is part of what makes you feel rough the next day.

My problem is that I rarely stick to beer alone, on a session there is usually a temptation to sample some of the top shelf at some point late on in the evening biggrin

Having kids has put paid to most of my drunkenness anyway, nothing worse than a hangover with a 2 & 4 year old climbing all over you laugh
Except there is. hehe
It's a myth and never been substantiated by clinical trials.

Zoon

7,304 posts

150 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
Except there is. hehe
It's a myth and never been substantiated by clinical trials.
It's a diuretic, makes you wee more, therefore dehydrates.

Foliage

3,861 posts

151 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
Zoon said:
LordGrover said:
Except there is. hehe
It's a myth and never been substantiated by clinical trials.
It's a diuretic, makes you wee more, therefore dehydrates.
Except the largest component of alcoholic beverages especially beer and wine is water and the diuretic effect is offset by that. But then a hangover is dehydration.

Its easy to not get dehydrated, drink water.

MrBarry123

6,102 posts

150 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
Zoon said:
LordGrover said:
Except there is. hehe
It's a myth and never been substantiated by clinical trials.
It's a diuretic, makes you wee more, therefore dehydrates.
Only if you don't rehydrate with more beer...