WASHINGTON — Work hard, play hard seems to be the case with many people who exercise and drink alcohol, according to a new study.
“On days when people are more active, they tend to drink more than on days they are less active,” says David E. Conroy of the Center for Behavior and Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in a news release.
A yearlong Northwestern Medicine study involving 18- to 89-year-olds finds there is a “social weekend” affect to the exercise-drink correlation.
From Thursdays to Sundays, people report an increase in both physical activity and alcohol consumption, the study finds.
Future research might explain why that happens.
Conroy says people may be rewarding themselves for working out. Or perhaps the physical activity puts people in more social situations where there’s alcohol.
The link between more activity and more alcohol consumption was uniform among all study participants regardless of age or level of physical activity.
Conroy’s ultimate goal is to find ways to help people find better balance and to exercise without the potentially adverse effects of drinking.
The study is published in Health Psychology, an American Psychological Association journal.
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