Is drinking a beer after a d
ehydrating workout a good idea or a bad idea? According to the Wall Street Journal, it depends. The Journal quotes Jim White, owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia Beach, Va., advising us that, while the body needs carbs after a workout, beer, with only 14 grams of carbs per beer, is not best provider. White says a hard workout is best followed with water, or with drinks with a carbs-to-protein ratio of 4:1 ratio. And always, he says, athletes should drink more water than beer. Wait, there’s more. The Journal also consults Nancy Clark, a sports-nutrition counselor in Newton Highlands, Mass., who says it is OK to drink one post-workout beer, consumed responsibly and with water and some carbohydrates to refuel depleted muscles.  But, warns Clark, “You need to eat a balanced meal with the beer within an hour or so, to offer protein to repair the muscles and buffer the alcohol.” So yes, the answer is, “it depends.”