SAY goodbye to the dreaded Monday morning hangover, thanks to researchers from a Queensland university who have discovered it may be possible to improve the hydrating effects of beer.

Since the beginning of time, it seems sipping on a frosty cold beer has been a necessity on a scorching hot day. This can be counter-intuitive at times, given alcohol actually increases dehydration and leads to drunkenness, risky behavior and eventually, the hangover.

However, researchers from Griffith University’s Health Institute may have answered every Australians prayers. They have found that by adding electrolytes, a common ingredient found in sports drinks, and reducing the alcohol content could make a beer more refreshing than ever.

As part of the study the Institute manipulated the electrolyte levels of two commercial beers, one that was regular strength and one that was light. They then gave those two beers to volunteers who had been heavily exercising just before consumption to test their fluid recovery.

The study showed that the light beer that had been combined with electrolytes was one third more effective at hydrating a person than a regular beer. The best news for beer drinkers was that the taste of the modified beverages didn’t change.

Associate Professor Ben Desbrow said, “Of the four different beers the subjects consumed, our augmented light beer was by far the most well retained by the body, meaning it was the most effective at re-hydrating the subjects.”

Whilst of course the researchers don’t recommend drinking beer after rigorous exercise, Professor Desbrow suggests that it is more effective to tell people how to minimise dehydration than to tell them not to drink at all.

He said, “If you’re going to live in the real world, you can either spend your time telling people what they shouldn’t do, or you can work on ways of reducing the danger of some of these socialised activities.”

This new enhanced beer may well be a stepping-stone into finding hangover cures for other types of alcohol.