# How long can one live on Guinness and spinach

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-one-live-on-guinness-and-spinach/266604>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 29, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-one-live-on-guinness-and-spinach/266604 "2004-09-29T02:47:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-can-one-live-on-guinness-and-spinach/266604/21 "2004-09-30T08:55:05Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Well, I was _under the impression_ that this was the case - beer has a diuretic effect (due not only to the alcohol, but the flavourings too, I think), to the extent that you pee more than you drink, which _should_ leave you dehydrated. But if it is truly the case that you have not taken any other fluids, maybe I’m mistaken.

I think you’re right. Doesn’t alcohol inhibit vaospressin in the body?  
IIRC, vasopressin is an anti-diuretic hormone which regulates your kidney and stops you peeing everything out.  
So if alcohol inhibits something which stops you peeing, you surely have to pee more than if you were drinking the same volume of a different liquid with no alcohol in it? Therefore, you’d have to end up dehydrated, if the benchmark for hydration is a person who isn’t drinking alcohol and so has optimum vasopressin function.

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