Text Size
Smaller
Bigger

UK Gov. Says Exercise Doesn’t Compensate for Binge Drinking

posted 10:19 PM EST, Thu November 26, 2009
UK Gov. Says Exercise Doesn’t Compensate for Binge Drinking © Photo Credit: Ben Matthews :::

Brits are making up for binge drinking with gym visits the next day – a practice the government says may help to burn those extra calories, but that won’t protect from cancers or organ damage.

A survey administered by the UK Department of Health suggests that 28% of people in Britain use exercise as a way to ‘make up’ for binge drinking the night before, primarily to burn off the calories ingested through alcohol.

Health officials stress that although alcohol is high in calories and that exercise can help people to retain a healthy weight, that exercise cannot minimize the many other harms of heavy drinking.

Nicolay Sorensen, of Alcohol Concern, commented on the survey findings by saying, “alcohol has its own special set of risk factors - damage to vital organs, increased chance of cancers and so on. No amount of time on the treadmill can reverse the effects of heavy drinking.”

The British government recommends that men not exceed 3 or 4 units of alcohol per day about a pint and a half of beer per day and that women not exceed 2 or 3 units daily.

Gilian Marron, Minister of the Health Department that ran the survey, warned of the dangers of chronic heavy drinking by saying, “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.”

Subscribe Subscribe to this topic category
Creative Commons License
Copyright Notice
We welcome republishing of our content on condition that you credit Choose Help and the respective authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Helpful Information
When Partying Gets Old: Growing Up and Changing
When Partying Gets Boring: Growing Up and Overcoming Ambivalence to Change © Adrianpua
There comes a time for each of us when we reflect on our lifestyle and see that it's time for a change. The New Year is the most popular time of year to do this. Start out 2014 by considering whether partying still matches the life you want today. Read Article
Prevention January 02, 2014 (1)
Listen to Your Body and Beat Stress Listen to your body to quickly diagnose a stress reaction... and quickly regain your calm with 2 easy stress-busting techniques. Read Article
Stress & Burnout May 19, 2015

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information.

Find Treatment
Browse by region »
Scan to call us
using your phone camera app