People who drink a lot of booze tend to become accustomed to having a lot of sugar in their system. Not being a biochemist or MD, I have no earthly idea how the whole thing works, except that it’s not uncommon for newly-sober alcoholics to crave sugar. In fact, some AA material suggests eating candy as a way to deal with this (Living Sober, IIRC), and in days of yore, Karo syrup, which is almost pure sugar, was given to help ease the detoxification process.
Robin
“I’m on a 1200 calorie a day diet.”
“Really? how do you handle the hunger pangs?”
“Easy! After the 2nd six-pack I pass out.”
Beer gut is DEFINITLY a lifestyle thing.
No, it’s the beer. Most of the calories in beer come from carbohydrates, not alcohol, as was already pointed out.
There is some evidence that the body does metabolize distilled spirits (not beer or wine) somewhat differently, utilizing fewer calories from the alcohol than would be predicted.
Here’s a thread with a lot of info about the calories from various alcohols. In it, I defer to lucwarm’s superior knowledge.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79298