In defense of beer during training

Michele Wallace makes a well-reasoned, expert argument for beer drinking during training, beyond just aesthetic considerations.

Wallace points out that beer is made from grains, water, and yeast, contains antioxidants, and lowers one’s risk of coronary disease — and contains the underrated (in my opinion) vitamin B6. This vitamin plays a key role in making iron in the diet more available, which in turn provides more hemoglobin and oxygen for working muscles.

So lets break this down:

Beer -> vitamin B6 -> more available iron -> more hemoglobin -> more oxygen -> PRs

Finally, there’s the writer’s trump card:

One of my favorite things to do is to relax at the end of the week with a cold beer! There is nothing like it; the smell, the taste, the relaxation and the warmth that fills my body is simply the best. I’m always bothered by those that use the “I’m in training” excuse to not throw back a cold brew. Really? Do these people really think that a beer, maybe two or three, is going to impair their training?

Beyond all the expert “data”, I can tell you-from one runner to another-beer is a good thing. Whenever I drink a few beers (not in excess), I always feel GREAT during my next workout. Whether it is the B6, the antioxidants, the carbohydrates, or the alcohol…. whatever it is, I’m sold.

The experts have spoken, and they want you to drink beer while training.

How to Enjoy Wine - 1st Article

This is the first article in a series for casual wine fans.  There’s so much information on the book shelves about wine tasting and if you’re a serious oenophile who’s building a reference collection, you have hundreds of choices.  If, however, you are not a serious oenophile and you’re simply looking for a quickly checklist of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’, we compiled this group of articles for you.

We hope that these articles help you to quickly jump into the world of wine with a bit more confidence and a little less apprehension.  We selected this specific article because (a) it offers a few unusual tips about wine appreciation that we hadn’t seen in a blog before and (b) because unlike some wine bloggers - the author used plain language.  The author didn’t talk down to his audience (and that’s always welcome, no?)

Best Tenet in our opinion?  Number 8 - Thou Shalt Know New World Wines From Old World Ones.  That’s an overlooked tip that you won’t find in many books that are on the market.  You’ll love the nuggets that you find in the article.

You can check it out right here.

You can also find more articles like this one on our tumblr site: stemstore.tumblr.com