# Beer Bellies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497 "2019-03-25T13:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/21 "2019-03-26T17:19:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m guessing that autocorrect played around with your post. “Apis loaf”? 🙂 🙂 Aggressive load. To try again. The system (especially the liver) can handle only so much alcohol and sugar at a time. Go over that threshold and more gets stored as liver fat and VAT. Which then has metabolic impacts favoring more VAT. It is both that it’s a lot of carbs and alcohol and the rate that it hits the liver. And the common lack of adequate exercise. Whole grains and fruits take longer to digest so deliver the sugars at a slower rate, one the liver can handle with less intrahepatic and visceral fat storage resultant. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/22 "2019-03-26T22:06:22Z")
Oh. I don’t know about the impact of hops but chronic alcohol overconsumption does lower testosterone (as does age in men) which also contributes to greater VAT. ---
**Author:** ![Barack\_Obama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/23 "2019-03-27T04:26:08Z")
Anecdotal, but I’ve seen both skinny and beer belly alcoholics. It all depends on your genetics and diet/life style. Some people can just naturally burn off all those calories, others do more physical work which burns it off, and others have harder time burning it, some don’t do much physical work. If you sat in your chair all day drinking doing nothing, then you’re probably going to have some belly fat if not a beer belly depending on your genetics and diet overall. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/24 "2019-03-27T07:11:31Z")
yeah I knew guys that drank beer 18 hours a day and didn’t get a beer gut …… but tell me something since I’ve been told drinking soda causes weight gain if beer wouldn’t why would soda? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/25 "2019-03-27T12:35:19Z")
As to the wiki cite … [https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/133/8/2655/4687991](https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/133/8/2655/4687991) The association is with the pattern of alcohol intake, the intensity, more than total amount. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497/26 "2019-03-27T13:12:58Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > yeah I knew guys that drank beer 18 hours a day and didn’t get a beer gut …… but tell me something since I’ve been told drinking soda causes weight gain if beer wouldn’t why would soda? As noted upthread, as with anything related to diet, it’s going to vary by individual. If someone has a (relatively) fast metabolism, lives an active lifestyle, and / or just is lucky genetically, they may be able to get away with a high intake of those carbs (be it beer, soda, or Doritos) without getting a gut. “Drinking soda causes weight gain” (or “drinking beer causes weight gain”) is a strong corellation, but it isn’t an ironclad guarantee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-bellies/831497.md?page=1)