Is beer particularly fattening compared to other alcoholic beverages of similar strength, or is it a basic rule of thumb that the drunker I’m getting, the fatter I’m getting?
I think the rule of thumb is a normal beer is about 150 cals, a light beer is around 100. For comparison, a shot of booze is 60 cals. Add in the mixer, though, and you’re usually right up there at 150 (or more - I shudder to think what a Pina Colada weighs in as!)
If you’re concerned about weight, drink light beer, or go for something like Vodka and soda. Vodka and soda has only the 60 cals the vodka brings to it, so that’s my favorite “light” drink.
If it’s weight you’re concerned about, I would recommend heroin or cocaine, for that “fashion-model look,” while still achieving the goal of drugged-out stupor.
The best of both worlds!
I think alcohol in general inhibits your body’s ability to process fat from other sources, adding weight-gain potential beyond the content of the alcoholic beverage itself.
Just for reference, ethyl alcohol has about 6 kcal/g (there are two “calories”: the large Calorie, which is one thousand (1k) times the smaller calorie, is the one used in dietary calculations. The confusion between the two gives canards such as the one that celery takes more calories to chew than consuming it provides an air of plausibility).
“Beer” can vary greatly in alcoholic content, but about 3.2% alcohol by weight (abw) is a reasonable minimum figure (another comment: in the U.S., alcohol in beer is measured in percent abw, whereas in Canada, it’s measured in percent alcohol by volume (abv), which, for beer strengths, is about 25% higher. Keep that mind next time you hear a claim that Canadian beer is stronger.)
A standard (in the U.S.) beer bottle contains about 714 ml (12 oz.) of fluid; thus about 22.8g of alcohol. At 6 kcal/g, this works out to 137 kcal/beer. Thus, about 90% of the calories in a standard beer can be attributed to the alcohol.
Drinking vodka and mixer of your choice isn’t going to help much in terms of caloric intake, if you’re consuming the same amount of alcohol; in fact, unless the mixer is chosen to be the next-best thing to diet soda, you may actually consume more calories than by guzzling Budmilloors Unlight.
(Disclaimer: I have a pretty impressive – or pathetic, depending on how you look at these things – beer belly. But, I developed it long before I started on my two-Guinness-a-night habit).
So assuming I’m consuming to the same level of intoxication, I’m slightly better off if I switch from MGD to rum and diet coke or whatever.
Just about all the calories in hard liquor come from alcohol, but in beer, roughly 35-40% of calories come from carbohydrates. In wine, roughly 20% of calories come from carbohydrates. One hundred calories of vodka has more alcohol than 100 calories of wine, which has more alcohol than 100 calories of beer.
Alcohol in any form stimulates the appetite, and eating makes one thirsty sooooooo…it’s a vicious circle. You drink a few beers, get hungry, chow down a pizza, get thirsty, slam a few more brewskis’ and so on. So it usually isn’t just the beer that adds to the spare tire. Also, the average American beer is between 4&5% alcohol, not 3.2!
Ounce for ounce this is still less than other liquors.
The caloric content in a beer isn’t overwhelmingly high, and it contains zero fat. But the frustrating part of being a beer-lover and wanting to lose weight is, if you’re going to put a pretty good buzz on, you might drink six (or more) beers on some weekend night.
Think about it. There isn’t really anything else in your life you would sit and eat or drink 6 to 8 of. If you did, you’d no doubt get the same kind of belly.
I always thought that it really was about male pattern obesity. Men tend to add extra fat at the belly while women start at the hips.
When Joe Six-pack adds 600 to 900 extra calories from alcohol the fat starts to accumulate first around the waist. Being a depressant, it slows the metabolism down at the same time the extra calories are added. Adding 600 to 900 calories of chocolate would make you hyper, while from alcohol it makes you lethargic.
I can’t think of anything, off the top of my head, that would add that many calories over and above the diet that wouldn’t stimulate you at the same time. I suppose just plain over-eating might have the same effect.
So, my guess is that taking in a six-pack while watching TV all evening would increase the chance of a beer-belly developing. While, drinking a six-pack while digging ditches all day, probably wouldn’t.
This is from a 50ish beer drinker without a beer-belly. Just my idea of how it works.
Jim
This was one of my first posts but Im way too lazy to search. We fought about the idea that the body processes alcohol as FAT…& believe it or not, it does. It’s a long complex process & some old biochemists may not agree. Thus, beer has alcohol which is converted into fat =beer belly.