Alcohol consumption and sports are among the most popular stress management methods. Especially non-professional athletes should be very familiar with this combination. Having a beer with the guys or ladies after the game or training “to switch off” or “to come down” is often mentioned…
Although these methods often occur together, very few studies have examined the role of these activities related to daily well-being. However, there is a great deal of evidence on how alcohol consumption affects health: light to moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of health problems, but increased consumption shows a dramatic increase in various health problems such as diabetes (Baliunas et al., 2009), cardiovascular disease (Rehm & Roerecke, 2017), or stroke (Christensen et al., 2018).
Lee et al. (2021) take a closer look at both methods and examined the effects of exercise and alcohol consumption on daily well-being in their diary study. They found that alcohol consumption led to a negative impact on well-being the next day, while exercise had a positive impact.
This was explained by with sleep quality, as alcohol consumption worsened sleep quality, while exercise led to better sleep quality. The results of the study suggest that although alcohol consumption can reduce stress in the short term, the positive effects do not last and may even reverse the next day. In contrast, physical activity offers long-lasting benefits to well-being that can last until the next day. With this in mind, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to abstain from alcohol after a game or workout to experience the positive effects on well-being the next day? Cheers!
Read interesting study here: https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aphw.12319
Literature:
Baliunas, D. O., Taylor, B. J., Irving, H., Roerecke, M., Patra, J., Mohapatra, S., & Rehm, J. (2009). Alcohol as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes care, 32(11), 2123-2132.
Christensen, A. I., Nordestgaard, B. G., & Tolstrup, J. S. (2018). Alcohol intake and risk of ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke: results from a Mendelian randomization study. Journal of stroke, 20(2), 218.
Rehm, J., & Roerecke, M. (2017). Cardiovascular effects of alcohol consumption. Trends in cardiovascular medicine, 27(8), 534-538.