Healthy people drink more alcohol than they don’t exercise, study finds: here’s why
Whereas previously hydrating for a tournament, competition, or big sports race meant simply taking sips of water, now you can choose from all kinds of sports drinks. From those that boast electrolytes to protein-infused “smart†water (a puzzle to say the least), there’s even coconut water and the kind of drinks that will make your piss blue for a while. day or three. Yet even whatever choices we have, not much comes close to feeling cold after the game. From professionals to amateurs, pouring a cold beer is practically a return to calm.
While it has long been thought that those who exercise regularly hold some sort of health authority over their peers, sipping only their own DIY kombucha and eating all the green vegetables available at the supermarket, the point is that l alcohol continues to be present in such an active life. In fact, many studies over the years have found a link between exercise and alcohol consumption, suggesting that those who exercise a lot also tend to drink more. Now, a new study in Medicine and science in sport and exercise from a research team from the Cooper Institute in Dallas, found a strong, often overlooked, link between exercise and drinking habits.
While other studies have focused on competitive athletes or college teams where high levels of alcohol consumption could be attributed to fellowship parties or hazing rituals, this study collected data from 38,000 healthy patients aged 20 to 86 who underwent preventive testing at the clinic. Their cardiorespiratory condition was estimated using a treadmill test until exhaustion and based on the results, they were then divided into five equal groups based on their age-adjusted scores. and sex. The lowest group was classified as poor fitness, then moderate fitness, and so on. For alcohol consumption, those who consumed three or less drinks per week were considered light drinkers; up to seven for women and 14 for men was moderate; and above all it was heavy.
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The study found that moderately and very fit people were much more likely to be moderate or heavy drinkers than less fit people. As external reports, “For women, being in good physical shape more than doubled the odds of being a moderate or heavy drinker. For men, this increased the odds by 63 percent.
It is important to note, however, that these were not professional or university athletes, but simply amateurs. So why would they drink so much? It turns out that the study’s authors suggest that it could be due to a psychological phenomenon called the licensing effect, in which they engage in good behavior that allows them to reward themselves by then doing something “badâ€, ie. that is, while drinking a beer.
In another University of Houston study, researcher Leigh Leasure linked exercise and drinking behavior to higher levels of sensation seeking. Leasure went on to find that when it comes to exercise and alcohol, the two tend to exist in a cycle of hard work, partying, body image, and guilt. With this in mind, exercise leads to drinking in the first two, then drinking leads to exercise.
Ultimately, drinking will always be an intensely personal choice, and for some, their relationship with alcohol will always be more complex than others. But it’s worth noting that even science considers a link between exercise and alcohol consumption and our desire to reward ourselves with something “bad†for the good, hard work we do.