There are old wives tales about just about every topic. You may hear plenty of myths floating around out there related to drinking, but can you believe them all? Let’s take a look at some of the most common myths you may hear so that you can hopefully avoid falling for myths about drinking in the future.
How-to: Avoid Falling for Myths About Drinking- Common Wives Tales Debunked
Beer before Liquor
We have all heard the saying “Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”. This leads people to think they can have all of the hard alcohol they want, as long as it is before beer. However, a final shot after drinking beers all night will make you very sick. It seems as if as long as you start with “harder” alcohol (liquor), and finish with “softer” alcohol (beer), then you will be fine.
However, the real factors that play into you getting unpleasant side effects from drinking not which alcohols you mix in a certain order. They are actually time and amount of consumption. The more you drink in a shorter amount of time, the more drunk you will get. This can lead to things such as nausea, vomiting, lack of coordination, and poor judgement. This is one of the myths about drinking that is just simply not true.
Older Wine Is Better
Another one of the most common myths about drinking is regarding the age of wine. Many people think that the older a bottle of wine is, the better it is. Older bottles of wine are often associated with being expensive and higher quality. While this is the case with some types of wine, it’s not a general rule that applies to all wine. There are some wines that do need to be stored in a wine cellar for several years to reach their peak quality. Many wines should actually be consumed within one year from production. In fact, oftentimes the antioxidant levels in a wine may even decrease over time.
Workout Recovery Drink
Some marathons or longer running events serve beer at the end of the race. This is one of the common myths about drinking because some people think that beer is a better recovery drink for hard workouts than water or sports drinks. The reasons people think this is due to several reasons. For example, beer has some vitamins and minerals that water does not have. They also say that carbonation helps to quench thirst. Also, they say the carbs help to replenish energy stores.
However, sports drinks contain sugars, salt, and potassium that can also rehydrate an exhausted body without the negative side effects of alcohol. Plus, alcohol can actually cause the liver and pancreas to not be able to effectively transport digestive enzymes and nutrients throughout the body. This will also affect the way be the body metabolizes carbs for energy.
