Can You Survive In The Hot Desert With Only Michelob Ultras To Drink? The Science Is Wild

We can all agree that drinking a beer is more hydrating than a shot of hard liquor—but does that mean you can drink beer instead of water?

Historically, people used to drink alcohol all the time. In fact, in 1830, the average American drank a total of 7.1 gallons of absolute alcohol annually. In modern terms, this equates to just over four shots of vodka per day.

Now, we’ve learned to tame ourselves a bit. Still, many find themselves sipping on a beer and wondering, “I should be drinking water, right?”

Well, yes—but that thought does inspire an interesting question. How far can you get on just beer alone? The answer, it turns out, is pretty interesting.

Can You Survive In The Hot Desert With Just Beers?

In a video with over 5 million views, the social media team behind the product Cheers notes something interesting about beer.

“A Michelob Ultra is 4% alcohol and 96% water,” the person in the video starts.

“We know that if I drink this, it’s dehydrating, and if I drink this, it’s hydrating,” referring to the alcohol and water respectively. “You can drink non-alcoholic beer and rehydrate. Non alcoholic beer is 99.5% water…So where do you draw the line? Where does it go from hydrating to dehydrating?”

According to the host of the video, beer itself—with no changes—is hydrating. If you’re stuck in a desert and only have beer to drink, you can stay hydrated on the drink alone. The trick is simply pacing yourself “so that your blood alcohol level doesn’t rise.”

Is This True?

The video continues by noting that dehydration is only part of the reason why hangovers are so rough. Other issues leading to bad hangovers include sleep disruption, gastrointestinal distress, inflammation, acetaldehyde exposure, and GABA-rebound, where your body attempts to counteract the effect of alcohol by kicking into overdrive.

But the question remains: Can you become hydrated on beer alone?

The answer is “Yes, but you really, really shouldn’t.”

There have been several studies examining how well alcohol hydrates. In one study, researchers had hydrated and dehydrated men drink either alcohol-free beer or beer with 4% alcohol.

When the men were already hydrated, the beer acted as a diuretic, making them pee and lose water. For the dehydrated men, however, there was not a significant difference between those who drank alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer. This suggests that, if someone is dehydrated, their body will hold onto the water of the beer more aggressively than if they were hydrated.

In another study, researchers had dehydrated men drink water, non-alcoholic beer, 2% beer, 5% beer, or a sports drink. The sports drink rehydrated the best, while the 2% beer, non-alcoholic beer, and water all rehydrated to comparable amounts. The 5% also rehydrated the participants, just not as well as the other drinks.

So, is it technically possible to rehydrate solely with beer? Yes—but that’s not good advice in day-to-day life. If you’re at a party and find you’re parched, it’s best to reach for the water. If you’re been sweating a lot, you might also want to consider an electrolyte beverage.

Commenters Have Thoughts

In the comments section, many users joked about the premise of the video.

“So basically telling my boss if we drink them slow it’s still staying hydrated got it,” wrote a user.

“What I’m hearing is beer is good for you,” joked another.

Others noted there were likely other problems that would complicate a beer-rehydration plan.

“I mean the ‘dehydration’ is from the excessive urination,” shared a user. “Hydration isn’t just water, it’s water balanced with electrolytes.”

“Alcohol is a diuretic. It’s a moot point,” stated a second.

BroBible reached out to Cheers via email.