Cause and effect? Not so fast.
No less an authority than Weight Watchers themselves has come to the defense of what one of my buddies used to call “rotting grain water.” Admittedly, not everything in the land of barley and hops is hosannas and bunnies – empty calories are empty calories – but neither is it nothing but bad news in a twelve-ounce package.
Lurking in the fizzy amber intoxicant are some minerals, B vitamins, and antioxidants. Regardless of whether you’re on either a muscle-building or a weight-loss diet, these vitamins and antioxidants are good for you. Pleasantly absent are things like cholesterol and fat. Modest intake of beer and wine (one drink per day) has even been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease in men over 45 (and women over 55).
As the man in the jaunty red sash says: “Hooray, beer!”
Unsurprisingly, the bulk of beer’s calories come from the alcohol itself. This extends to most other alcoholic beverages, though liqueurs are frequently loaded with sugars and other sweetening agents. At seven calories per gram, alcohol is nearly twice as calorie-dense as protein (4 calories per gram) and edging up towards straight fat (9 cal / gram). With this in mind, it’s not exactly earth-shaking news that the lighter beers (not in color, but alcohol content) are more diet-friendly.
For folks watching their POINTS, canoe sex…err light beer is still a viable, if not exactly heartily recommended, modus operandi. One clever serving suggestion, made by no less a beer enthusiast than the Brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch, is to split a single beer between you and a companion in a pair of wine glasses. I am totally going to spring this on my other half, since we have some very nice stemware, and approximately no occasions for which to use it.
In short, beer doesn’t cause beer bellies any more than spawn-camping causes wedgies…. but over-indulging in either of the former is apt to lead to some undesirable consequences, whether it’s getting your own corpse ganked, or your six-pack excessively insulated.
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