‘Beer belly’
There have long been comical jokes about “beer bellies” about people who carry extra weight around their midsection. Two carbohydrate diet books (“South Beach Diet” and “Suzanne Somers’ Fast and Easy”) also suggest beer specifically encourages fat deposit in this area.
The truth is, there is no such thing as a “beer” belly. Excess fat in any part of the body is caused by too many calories from any source and not enough exercise, according to published academic sources. If calories consumed exceed calories burned, fat will result.
Where fat is deposited on the body is mainly determined by gender and genetics, not by the type of food you eat.
Beer, and especially low carb beer, is enjoyed responsibly by many adults who also happen to be on weight-loss diets of all kinds. Beer has zero fat. Most light beers are low in carbs and low in calories.
No matter what kind of diet – low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie – is chosen, most doctors agree that the keys to weight loss are moderate food and beverage intake and regular exercise. Beer can be part of that kind of lifestyle for many adults.
We are not endorsing any particular diet or diet book, and we are certainly not saying that drinking beer will cause you to lose weight. Rather, we are providing accurate information for adults to determine what products can fit within their food and beverage choices.
We want any consumption of our beers to be by adults and to be responsible.
Monday 21 May 2012
Sunday 13 May 2012
Low Carb Beers Common Myths
Glycemic index of beer
The exact science of carbohydrate metabolism, is complex and dynamic. It is not uncommon popular low carbohydrate diet books to dumb down these difficult concepts by calling food “good” or “bad” based on its “glycemic index” alone.
The glycemic index is a way of measuring how quickly and much a particualar food increases blood sugar. There are two main methods for measuring glycemic index and as yet there is no consensus among doctors or nutritionists that glycemic index alone is a reliable way to choose foods for weight loss or improving body composition.
When it comes to beers, wines spirits and liqueurs, many diet book writes rate beer’s glycemic index as high, even low carb beers. Though this is based on the mistaken idea that beer contains high levels of sugar or maltose, which is in fact not true.
So, what is the correct glycemic index of beer?
For now this question is difficult to answer. Some sources say low carb beer contains not enough carbohydrate for glycemic index. Measuring the glycemic index of a food typically needs the food be eaten in about 15-minutes in a quantity that delivers 50 grams of carbohydrates. The blood sugar is then recorded over time and the results are compared to the blood sugar response of a standard food, such as white bread or glucose.
The problem with testing beer this way is that all beers are relatively low in carbs. It would require a person to drink, for example, 7.5 light beers within 15 minutes to consume the 50 grams necessary to measure the resulting blood sugar. That is not responsible consumption of beer by adults.
Beer’s glycemic “value” is very low.
Many carb diet books focus on glycemic index. But several experts warn against using glycemic index alone when choosing foods because it does not account for serving size, the effect of eating different foods together in one meal, which is how most people eat, or other factors.
For this reason, some experts suggest that a more important measure is the “glycemic load,” which adjusts glycemic index for serving size. (Multiply glycemic index by the number of carbs per serving and divide by 100.) Glycemic load provides a better idea of how a single serving has an impact on blood sugar.
If you select your food based on glycemic index (GI) alone, then you would have little guilt eating chocolate cake, while watermelon would be forbidden. But when you account for carbohydrates per serving, watermelon’s glycemic load (GL) is much lower, and much preferred, than the chocolate cake.
Beer’s glycemic index has not been published. However, even if beer’s glycemic index were determined to be 70, the glycemic load for Bud Light, for example, would be 4.6. Less than 10 is considered low.
The exact science of carbohydrate metabolism, is complex and dynamic. It is not uncommon popular low carbohydrate diet books to dumb down these difficult concepts by calling food “good” or “bad” based on its “glycemic index” alone.
The glycemic index is a way of measuring how quickly and much a particualar food increases blood sugar. There are two main methods for measuring glycemic index and as yet there is no consensus among doctors or nutritionists that glycemic index alone is a reliable way to choose foods for weight loss or improving body composition.
When it comes to beers, wines spirits and liqueurs, many diet book writes rate beer’s glycemic index as high, even low carb beers. Though this is based on the mistaken idea that beer contains high levels of sugar or maltose, which is in fact not true.
So, what is the correct glycemic index of beer?
For now this question is difficult to answer. Some sources say low carb beer contains not enough carbohydrate for glycemic index. Measuring the glycemic index of a food typically needs the food be eaten in about 15-minutes in a quantity that delivers 50 grams of carbohydrates. The blood sugar is then recorded over time and the results are compared to the blood sugar response of a standard food, such as white bread or glucose.
The problem with testing beer this way is that all beers are relatively low in carbs. It would require a person to drink, for example, 7.5 light beers within 15 minutes to consume the 50 grams necessary to measure the resulting blood sugar. That is not responsible consumption of beer by adults.
Beer’s glycemic “value” is very low.
Many carb diet books focus on glycemic index. But several experts warn against using glycemic index alone when choosing foods because it does not account for serving size, the effect of eating different foods together in one meal, which is how most people eat, or other factors.
For this reason, some experts suggest that a more important measure is the “glycemic load,” which adjusts glycemic index for serving size. (Multiply glycemic index by the number of carbs per serving and divide by 100.) Glycemic load provides a better idea of how a single serving has an impact on blood sugar.
If you select your food based on glycemic index (GI) alone, then you would have little guilt eating chocolate cake, while watermelon would be forbidden. But when you account for carbohydrates per serving, watermelon’s glycemic load (GL) is much lower, and much preferred, than the chocolate cake.
Beer’s glycemic index has not been published. However, even if beer’s glycemic index were determined to be 70, the glycemic load for Bud Light, for example, would be 4.6. Less than 10 is considered low.
Friday 20 April 2012
Low Carb beer by beer breakdown
I have found an excellent little table of the carb content of some commonly available beers, in order lowest carb first:
Carbs per Beer by UK pint(568ml) :
Marstons Low C 3.41
Bindings Diat Pils 3.98
Miller Lite 4.26
Michelob Ultra 4.43
Tesco's Value Lager is 5.1g carb for a 440 ml can.
Coors Light 7.55
Corona Light 8.63
Amstel Light 8.63
Holsten Pils 11.19
Becks 11.36
Carlsberg 15.34
Stella Artois 16.76
Budweiser 17.32
Foster's Lager 17.61
Guiness 18.18
Foster's Ice 18.18
Michelob 20.11
Grolsh 21.58
Desperados 31.8 (massive fail as I love this beer)
Smirnoff Ice 44.30
WKD 60.61
Now this should be some useful carb information for all those beer drinkers who want to know the nutritional stats. If anyone wants to submit their own stats in the comments section post them up and I will add them to the list.
Up next week I will give a bit more background information on the science behind carbs in beers, be they low carb or not!!!
Monday 9 April 2012
Low Carb Beers Introduction
Low Carb beers burgeoned into existence and popularity around 2004 in conjunction with the low carb Atkins Diet. The low carb beers complimented the low carb Atkins diet, originally conceptualised in Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution books published from 1972 pinnacled with Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution published in 2002. The second book varied slightly from the original but the low carb principals of the original remained.
Low carb beers however are not just for the Atkins dieter, lower carbs means lower caloires, so anyone on a diet or training regime can benefit....or even those without specific dieting or training needs....why bother with the extra calories if don't need them!?
Beers being made from malted barley would be expected to contain some carbohydrate in the form of maltose, however during the fermentation process the yeast metabolises the maltose converting it to alcohol and carbon dioxide is released. There is therefore a relatively low concentration of carbs in most beers anyway but some brands will obviously have more than others and specialist low carb beers have focused there efforts to minimise their carb contents. Most beers/largers will give between 11 and 20grams per UK pint, most of their low carb or light (often referred to as "lite" in the USA) will give between 5 and to grams of carbs whilst some go as low as 3.41 grams (Marstons low if you were asking!). Claims often look a bit lower than this but Americans (who dominate the low carb beer brewing market) normally give their carbs per serving measure using a 330ml bottle which is a more common measure over there than the traditional British pint!
Over the course of this blog I will be reviewing low carb beers for nutritional stats (focused on the carbs and cals aspects) flavour, price and availability in the UK. Availability in the UK being a bit of a bug bear of mine as I have really struggled to find low carb brews on the UK high street or even in prominent supermarkets....Online has not been much better to be honest, majestic wines occasionally coming up trumps or cash and carries like Macro or Bookers so where possible I will link or at least sign post to stockists. If anyone else wants to chip in and share intel let me know!
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