You don't need to be a scientist to see the toilet queues on a Saturday night , or at an event , to make the link between drinking alcohol and the need to pee. So why exactly does drinking alcohol make us need to pee more than when we drink soft drinks or water? Alcohol also reduces the production of a hormone called vasopressin, which tells your kidneys to reabsorb water rather than flush it out through the bladder. With the body's natural signal switched off, the bladder is free to fill up with fluid. Find out if you're drinking too much with our Self Assessment tool.
It all depends on the quantity of beer you drink, but we rarely ever stop after the first pint. And we have hops to thank for that, as they are intense diuretics. The sugars, malt proteins and other substances in hops the plant that flavours beer all contribute to making us want to empty our bladders. Urine is what regulates the concentration of minerals in our blood and what rids our bodies of waste materials. In addition, bubbly drinks, which contain carbonic acid, increase pressure on our bladders.
Alcohol is a diuretic. Drinking it can make you pee more than if you had the same amount of water. Read on to find out the science behind why alcohol makes you pee — and what, if anything, you can do to keep from having to constantly go to the bathroom. There are a few factors at play for why you can feel the need to pee more when you drink alcohol versus when you drink the same amount of water. First, your kidneys regulate the amount of water in your body.