Beer & Your Health

After not regularly seeing a doctor since covid started, too much beer, and bad eating habits I was faced with reality last September. Blood pressure was 160/106, cholesterol was 204, pre-diabetic, you name it.. portion control and healthier options helped, but no beer on weekdays made much of the difference. Lost 40 pounds so far, blood pressure is normal, A1c went from 7.2 to under 6. I love beer, but I love living more...

 

Personal anecdotes carry more weight than dry stats.

 

I hear you. There’s probably some legal folks who tell BA that “posting some resources and guides suggests that you know this site could exacerbate alcohol problems and if someone then dies as a result of said alcohol problems there could be a lawsuit against beeradvocate.” And you’re right there is a wealth of resources online for folks already. But I really don’t think those resources and guides will resonate with people who are potentially struggling with addiction as well as resources and guides from a trusted community. We’re a trusted community for one another and that can be worth its weight in gold when it comes to getting honest about addiction. So yeah, is adding such a forum the smart thing to do in the world of litigation? Probably not. Is it the right thing to do if you truly care about individual members of this community? I think yes. I know which way that decision is gonna break in the modern USA, but I think it’s important for people to keep bringing the topic up.

 

I was always really active when I was younger. Did a whole load of marathons and such while putting in long weeks working at a desk with horrible posture and putting down a lot of alcohol. Right around 30 a lot of that caught up to me, I already have issues with inflammation and chronic pain, but it became 10x worse for several years while I unraveled bad habits, had a half dozen surgeries, a lot of physical therapy and still a lot of drinking to cope with all of that. Needless to say I gained a lot of weight and while I fixed a lot of the muscle/joint stuff. Every time I tried to start exercising I would inevitably get injured or have set backs in the first few weeks and end up not going anywhere.

Late 2022 I did some hard self-reflection and made a decision it had to change and had to work. Both my dad and grandad had heart attacks at my age and I was on a trajectory to repeat that. Good confluence of factors in January 2023 helped with my normal dry January, and my work tightening on budgets/travel made it easier to focus and make real headway. I started by just walking 15k a day and eating 2k calories, strict adherence to that I lost 15-20 in a month. All said and done I dropped 50lbs in less than three months without doing anything unhealthy, just being extremely regimented about it all.

Over a year later I’m working out five days a week, haven’t regained any of the weight and I still enjoy my good beer, occasionally in excess. If I work to give advice to someone, don’t use my approach because going that hard, that intense doesn’t work for most people including me, I just lucked out that the external factors lined up well and I was extremely motivated. 10k+ steps per day, protein heavy diet, vegetables and fruit all the time, and keeping the calorie total reasonable will get most people good results. Starving or depriving yourself will almost always result in a backlash the other direction once you’re sick of it.

 

I always thought it was a website about being more knowledgeable about beer. I certainly know much more than I did when I joined, and my consumption moderated during this period. No harm, no foul.

 

I think this is great, but just want to clarify, that's 15k, as in 15km a day? That's on average, about 3 hours of walking? For 9 miles, every day? Awesome that you're able to fit that much walking into your daily schedule.

That's a lot of miles (65 miles per week if done 7 days a week) for even most runners, and is impressive so no surprise that this level of activity on a 2k calorie diet will result in quite a deficit, and I can definitely see resulting in great cardio and a healthier heart.

That said, drinking can also affect the liver, so just be sure to monitor and treat that well too.

 

I very much hope a market for beers in the 3.8% - 4.2% abv range develops. I’ve had various beers in this range that were fantastic. Given the lower abv, folks concerned with the health impacts of alcohol might gravitate to them.

 

I generally hear the suggestion to get 10k steps a day minimum within the fitness community. 15k would help push you further into a deficit.

Liver damage is a real concern. I've lost an aunt to liver failure and apparently now have an uncle that is dealing with some liver concerns. It's far too easy to conclude someone's health is fine when they're active, but caution must be taken to do regular bloodwork and tests to verify the internal health is adequate.

 

This seemed like a very balanced, helpful discussion until I hit "Show Ignored Content" and found that I'd blocked no less than seven of the posters over the last several years.

As for me, bad sleep and mood issues have caused me to go down to just a couple of beers a week, and even those I sometimes regret. When I first started on BA twelve years ago, I was downing a dozen imperial IPAs a week, with a trade box dropping on my porch every other day.

Do I miss that? Sometimes, yes, but overall I just feel a hell of a lot better drinking less.

 

As was said earlier, that's likely 15,000 steps per day. Which is still awesome! Typical person averages about 2200 steps per day depending on height. So that's about 7 miles per day.

According to my Apple Watch I walk/run 11 miles per day, so it's definitely doable to do 9 miles per day!

It also says I stand 15 hours per day, didn't realize that until now either.

I'll try to pull up the link, but 10k steps per day was largely a marketing ploy to get people to buy activity trackers/pedometers. There was no research behind 10k/day being a magical number for one's health.

That being said, walking 10k steps/day is probably better than sitting during that time. At the very least you'll burn more calories.

 

Agreed. To be honest, I feel like there might easily be more of these discussions, not less. Especially as younger generations are becoming more abstinent/temperate, it's good to talk about these things in a clear-eyed way. One might ask why it seems so threatening . . .

 

I'd certainly believe it, but any step goal could be used as a marketing ploy to get people to buy a device to track their steps. Thankfully these days, most people already have a device that can fit this need.

Reason I parrot the 10k steps a day is it's a very obtainable goal even for office drones who live in suburbia (me now, RIP) and gets people slightly more active with a realistic goal. As someone who went from running marathons to now an avid weight lifting, I'd suggest people try what I love, but not everyone wants to spend an hour plus in a gym several days a week.

 

Data is a funny thing where there’s what it says and the massive extrapolations people who didn’t write the papers or do the research run with despite researchers being very careful in the conclusions they actually assert.

what I have seen in the past that is well supported is 10k steps is roughly the point of diminishing returns. More of the data I remember looking at actually pegs it more in the 7-9k range. If you average any less than 10k, you would see a substantial return on effort/time up to that point and it tails off. You get more benefits from 15k than 10k, but the benefits of 10-15 are typically less than the jump from 5-10.

as someone who walks 10-25k a day most all days, I can definitely say this shows up in outcomes for weight and balancing your diet out. 10k is also a nice round number, it’s achievable and it’s not a high enough workload to cause shin splints for most people. Averaging 15-25k is a lot more work, you’re more sore, and you get injured more often.

 

Welp, here’s one benefit to cutting back on drinking that I don’t think has been mentioned here: Alcohol tolerance goes way down. For various reasons I’ve been drinking only one beer every few days lately—opened a 2018 Parabola (12oz) about an hour ago and hoooo-ey! Am I feeling it. So … if you enjoy the buzz, and especially if you’re on a budget—cut back on your consumption and you’ll get more bang for your buck. Probably healthier overall, too.

 

That’s amazing,,, and beer and your health is directly related to being overweight: easier said than done,
Great job

 

Thank you! Definitely easier said than done. I keep telling myself it will be worth it.

 

Three wholesome beers (none with any added artificial crap or syrups) a day is 1000 times better for you than three colas a day. But the "golden rule" here is everything in moderation as it fits you. For some folks, maybe one wholesome beer a day is 1000 times better than one cola a day.

 

Both are pretty bad for you, neither is a good daily habit.

Sorry not sorry, anything else is cope.

 

To combat the beer weight gain? Does he know you can get much better results with 12 steps?