Dehydration and alcohol

[Ron Johnson]

On another thread, which was about stocking up for earthquakes or something , there was raised the issue of having sufficient fluids to keep one hydrated. After one runs out of water, can one survive on wine alone? I know that alcohol is a diuretic (sp?) and causes loss of water in the body, but wine generally has less than 13% alcohol and the remainder is water. So, would the 87% water in wine outweigh the amount that you expelled due to the diuretic effect of the remaining 13% alcohol and thus keep you from dying of dehydration?

I know of no reason why this would ever come into play in my life, but as I keep significantly more wine about the house than I do water, I just wondered.

edit: Input from smug scientific bastards is encouraged.

Edited March 17, 2003 by Ron Johnson (log)

[g.johnson]

I don’t think it’s a good idea. You get dehydrated as much from drinking beer as from drinking spirits. As I mentioned on the other thread, boiling your first growths would drive off the alcohol which has a boiling point of around 80C. You could then drink the remains.

Edited March 17, 2003 by g.johnson (log)

[Fat Guy]

Where would we look to find an authoritative answer? I mean, I know alcoholic beverages aren't necessarily recommended as the best thirst quenchers, but I didn't realize they were a net negative. Didn't people back in the day -- like a couple of hundred years ago and farther back than that -- essentially drink hard cider and stuff like that all day long, and not much else?

[Lady T]

All the way back in the merrie old days, it was dangerous to drink the water -- and cider contains trace nutrients and fructose, along with a lower alcohol level than wine and the stronger distilled beverages.

[Wilfrid]

As recently as the middle of the last century, manual workers in England would drink beer in the morning, and refresh themselves with it throughout the day. Note, I am talking about people doing heavy, hot work. How does that sit with alcohol having a de-hydrating effect? If I have to die of thirst, I suppose I might as well be pissed at the time.

[g.johnson]

The stuff that was drunk at breakfast was 'small beer' and very low in alcohol content.

[tissue]

If I have to die of thirst, I suppose I might as well be pissed at the time.

Heehee. Funny.

["T"]

Way back in the day they didn't live too long though did they. Death by dehydration?

[g.johnson]

Partial answer.

Shirreffs SM, Maughan RJ: Restoration of fluid balance after exercise-induced dehydration: effects of alcohol consumption. J Appl Physiol 1997; 83(4):1152-8

The effect of alcohol consumption on the restoration of fluid and electrolyte balance after exercise-induced dehydration (1) was investigated. Drinks containing 0, 1, 2, and 4% alcohol were consumed over 60 min beginning 30 min after the end of exercise; a different beverage was consumed in each of four trials. The volume consumed (2,212 +/- 153 ml) was equivalent to 150% of body mass loss. Peak urine flow rate occurred later (P = 0.024) with the 4% beverage. The total volume of urine produced over the 6 h after rehydration, although not different between trials (P = 0.307), tended to increase as the quantity of alcohol ingested increased. The increase in blood (P = 0.013) and plasma (P = 0.050) volume with rehydration was slower when the 4% beverage was consumed and did not increase to values significantly greater than the dehydrated level (P = 0.013 and P = 0.050 for blood volume and plasma volume, respectively); generally, the increase was an inverse function of the quantity of alcohol consumed. These results suggest that alcohol has a negligible diuretic effect when consumed in dilute solution after a moderate level of hypohydration induced by exercise in the heat. There appears to be no difference in recovery from dehydration whether the rehydration beverage is alcohol free or contains up to 2% alcohol, but drinks containing 4% alcohol tend to delay the recovery process.

(Emphasis added.)

So dilute alcohol is OK, but at around 4% it starts to have a deleterious effect. However, the effect doesn’t look particularly marked since they didn’t find a statistically significant difference in the volume of urine produced nor did they find an actively dehydrating effect. But then again 4% is a lot less than you find in wine.

[Fat Guy]

Wine is usually in the 12% range, right? That is a big difference, to be sure. But I've still got to wonder if it would actually kill you to drink only wine.

[Fat Guy]

G., how about you try it for a few days and report back?

[g.johnson]

Are you buying?

[Fat Guy]

Only if you 1) don't mind bag-in-box, and 2) promise to post your thoughts and observations after each liter.

[Wilfrid]

I've been trying it for years. Still here.

[southern girl]

I just spent 5 days in New Orleans...consuming lots of wine, beer and spirits...and very little water...and am here to tell the story (I may have left behind a copious number of brain cells though 0

[Ron Johnson]

Partial answer.

So dilute alcohol is OK, but at around 4% it starts to have a deleterious effect. However, the effect doesn’t look particularly marked since they didn’t find a statistically significant difference in the volume of urine produced nor did they find an actively dehydrating effect. But then again 4% is a lot less than you find in wine.

Thank you Professor. Now, that is what I call a good answer.

Unbelievable that someone did research on this very thing.

[bigbear]

..... I may have left behind a copious number of brain cells though

Only the weak ones die.