I enjoy a beer or two in the evening, but I'm worried about putting on weight. Can you really get a beer belly from drinking beer?
April 24, 2000 (Bronx, N.Y.) -- Beer may be partly to blame for what are commonly called beer bellies, but it isn't the only culprit. Many men who never drink beer have a bulging gut. And some beer-lovers have those coveted "six-pack" abs. The real reason too many American men carry around beer bellies is that they consume too many calories and too much fat.
Beer and other alcoholic beverages contain lots of calories, of course. A 12-ounce can of regular beer has 146 calories, mostly in the form of alcohol and carbohydrates, with a very small amount of protein. That's approximately the number of calories in a sugar-packed soda. "Lite" beers, which are made by removing some of the alcohol, typically contain about 99 calories. Nonalcoholic beers contain even less, usually about 60 calories in 12 ounces.
Drinking a few beers a day can add a significant number of calories to your diet. The average adult drinker gets about 10% of his total daily calories from alcoholic beverages. Heavy drinkers may get up to half their calories from alcohol. With most foods, the calories we consume are either used as fuel or get stored as fat. So theoretically, adding a couple of 120-calorie glasses of beer to a high-calorie meal would contribute to a beer belly.
Oddly, scientists can't quite explain what exactly happens to calories from alcohol. Even though drinkers may consume more calories than non-drinkers, they aren't more likely to be obese or overweight. In research we described in 1991, my colleagues and I found that study participants given additional calories in the form of alcohol did not gain weight. And if they replaced some carbohydrates or fat in their diet with the equivalent number of calories in the form of alcohol, they actually lost weight.
In other words, consuming a few hundred extra calories a day in the form of alcohol doesn't have the expected effect of making people gain weight. We don't know why. Some speculate that alcohol may alter the way the body burns fat, possibly causing it to "waste" calories which would otherwise be stored in fat cells. Of course, heavy drinking can lead to liver damage over time, making your body less "fuel efficient" and even more likely to deplete your fat supply.
The bottom line: If you're putting on weight around the middle, chances are you can't blame it on just beer. The real culprits may be the fatty or very high-calorie foods that go so well with a brew. Go easy on the chips, sugar-coated beer nuts, and pizza. If you can control the urge to snack, you're likely to find you can enjoy a beer or two a day without having to loosen your belt.
Charles Lieber, MD, is professor of medicine and pathology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He is one of the country's leading experts on the metabolism of alcohol.
quote:Gees...All along I thought that it was caused by weak muscles and uncaring wives.
There you have it ... we are responsible for everything ... even some guy's big gut ...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * C'mon guys ... let me out !!! I just wanna see a game !!! H-mom * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp; some are dull; some are pretty; some have weird names; all are different colors. And they all have to learn to live in the same box.
Posts: 3937 | Location: Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight ... | Registered: January 02, 2003
As long as you don't ask "CAMom" to hand carry it to you on the sofa ... have at it ...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * C'mon guys ... let me out !!! I just wanna see a game !!! H-mom * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp; some are dull; some are pretty; some have weird names; all are different colors. And they all have to learn to live in the same box.
Posts: 3937 | Location: Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight ... | Registered: January 02, 2003
Guess it's the cheese that accompanies it!
