Cold beer in the sun need not be a problem, but strong drinks and large volumes can be dangerous :::: Heat and alcohol can put immense strain on the heart

“You’re better off with that pint of beer, you are more hydrated than you would be if you didn’t drink it,” said Prof Ron Maughan, an honorary professor at the University of St Andrews who has worked with the British Olympic Association. 

But drinking pint after pint can be a problem because the sheer volume stimulates urination. “When you drink not one pint of beer but many pints of beer, you run into difficulties,” he said.  

If you have a 25ml nip of 40% whisky, that amounts to 10ml of alcohol and 15ml of water. The 10ml of alcohol will cause you to produce 100ml of urine, leading to a net water loss of 85ml. There’s a smaller effect with beer. A pint (568ml) of 5% beer contains about 28ml of alcohol, which stimulates about 280ml of urine, but the body gains about 260ml of water.  

Why is there a risk of heart attack?  

Losing sodium, potassium and magnesium through dehydration can make matters worse. The loss of electrolytes can cause arrhythmias or irregular heart beats. In the most severe cases, the heart itself receives too little blood to work properly, which can lead to a heart attack. 

If there is too little blood and the pump function is not good and you have arrhythmia, you may have a problem in supplying your own heart with blood.  

Heat and alcohol can put immense strain on the heart.  

Blood vessels near the skin widen to help the blood lose more heat as it is pumped around the body. 

Alcohol magnifies this effect, causing the blood vessels to widen even further. Together, this drives a drop in blood pressure, so the heart has to work to harder to ensure enough oxygen reaches the brain and other organs. 

If the heart cannot match the demand, people can feel dizzy and collapse. 

Is it best to have no alcohol?

Not necessarily. 

There’s a danger the advice can be counterproductive.

Having the odd pint of weak beer can help with hydration, but if people are warned off all alcohol, they may not replace it with water, juice or other drinks.

People who want to drink can stick to a couple of pints of weak beer or shandy. 

In other words, 

reduce the alcohol content, but maintain the volume !!