Drinkers work out to burn off alcohol

Thursday November 26th, 2009

British drinkers think they can burn off the effects of alcohol with exercise.

As many as 3.8 million people rely on sport, gyms and other fitness activities to counteract their drinking habits, according to a new survey.

The survey, by pollsters YouGov, found that one in five English adults drinks twice the country's recommended safe limits.

The findings cast new light on recent research linking the drinking of alcohol to protection against heart disease.

Health experts said exercise might burn off the calories in alcohol - but it would not counteract the chemical's other ill-effects.

Some 2,400 adults took part in the survey, which showed that 59 per cent of drinkers claim to undertake regular exercise.

One expert Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance said: "While it is encouraging to see that people are recognising that heavy drinking is bad for their health, it is clear that the extent of the damage alcohol does to the body is not getting through to people.

"Regular exercise will not stop the onset of liver disease and other alcohol related illnesses if people continue to binge drink above safe limits."

UK Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said: "The truth is, if you have a big night at the pub, you're not going to compensate with a workout the following day.

"Damage from regularly drinking too much can slowly creep up and you won't see it until it's too late."

Tags: Drug and Alcohol Abuse | Fitness | Internal Medicine | UK News

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