Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 17/07/2012 17:02:01
-
Question: I know that alcohol is a diuretic, but if one was in a situation for example stranded at sea, where there was nothing else to drink except say beer would it be worth drinking the beer or would that just hasten dehydration.
In addition to this, sailors of old are known for their like of rum, how would this have affected their health when fresh water would have often been limited commodity.
Thanks very much, Love the show, Keep up the good work
Paul Winter
Brigg, North Lincolnshire
Asked by Paul Winter
Visit the webpage for the podcast in which this question is answered. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/show/2467/)
-
Hi Paul
we looked into this as a "Question of the Week" in 2008; in short, it depends upon the alcohol concentration. Beverages containing less than 10% alcohol have a net hydrating effect. Here's a link to the answer.
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/qotw/question/1904/
Chris
-
headache from hangover is due to dehydration of the water around the brain, i read, so a good midnight hi quantity gulp of water in the middle of the night helps with the morning after.
-
Mild dehydration is common and usually caused by not drinking enough fluids throughout the day. Fluids are continuously lost through normal body functions such as sweating, breathing and urinating. Common causes of dehydration include gastrointestinal water loss caused by diarrhoea and vomiting, excessive urination, excessive water loss through the skin (sweating) and lungs (breathing) due to heat and/or humidity, physical activity and fever or burns
[spam link removed by Mod. ]