Agave Road Trip

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Can alcohol warm you up? Or cool you down?

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Alcohol is nature’s great temperature regulator — it warms you up when you’re cold, and cools you down when you’re hot! Or … does it? Agave Road Trip’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Ryan Aycock, sets the record straight in this week’s episode!

Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. It’s hosted by Lou Bank and Chava Periban. 

Episode Notes

Check out Simply Cocktails by Dr. Ryan Aycock, the Cocktail MD!

The short answer: You may feel warm while drinking alcohol, and even have a flushed face.  But in reality, you are setting yourself up for hypothermia. And you may feel like you’re cooling down when you drink that beer, but you’re really dehydrating your body, which will increase the heat. So, hey, maybe hold on that drink until you’re feeling room-temperature!

Multiple studies using volunteers from the 1960s through 80s are summarized:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223852765_Alcohol_ingestion_and_temperature_regulation_during_cold_exposure