New Study Indicates We Drink More on Days We Excercise

     A new Northwestern Medicine® study finds that on days when people exercise more -- typically Thursdays to Sundays -- they drink more alcohol, too. This is the only study to use smartphone technology and a daily diary approach for self-reporting physical activity and alcohol use. “Monday through Wednesday people batten down the hatches and they cut back on alcohol consumption,” said David E. Conroy, lead author of the study. “But once that ‘social weekend’ kicks off on Thursdays, physical activity increases and so does alcohol consumption.”

     Previous studies have found that the more active among us are also the larger lushes. But this study didn't exactly confirm that. Instead, the stronger link occurred between exercise days and the number of drained glasses, with beer being the most popular post-workout alcoholic beverage. Both physical activity and alcohol intake increased Thursdays through Sundays. Even after the researchers controlled for the fact that people have more alcohol-related social events on the weekend, that many prefer to drink primarily on weekends, and that drinking patterns often differ by season, the association still stuck.

Read More at http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/09/we-drink-more-alcohol-on-gym-days.html


     I think about some of my exercise days and find that I really haven't paid attention to how much I have drank or if I drank at all on exercise days.   I know that because of my "Weight Watchers" diet, I drink pretty much the same amount when I do drink.   This is a very interesting concept, because I do know that when I do exercise, I don't consciously not drink.  I guess I'll have to pay attention to this and see what my tendencies really are, and you might too.  I would be interested in see what you do.  ;o)