Beer is known as a drink that can quickly put on fat, but it may not be any worse than other beverages. The amount of calories and carbohydrates, however, can quickly mount with only a few cans, so it is possible to put on fat with beer.
Calories
According to the website, Professor's House, the average 12-ounce beer contains 140 to 180 calories, although lite beer is typically below 100 calories. This is comparable to the same amount of calories in soda. However, most people drink multiple cans of beer. On average, men consume 4 to 8 beers every time they drink. Women are more variant; those who drink daily may only have two or three, but women who drink weekly or randomly may consume up to 12 at a time.
Maltose
There is some debate about the sugar content in beer, particularly the substance of maltose, which is derived by joining two glucose molecules together. It is true that barley malt from which beer is made turns to maltose when cooked, but according to a paper from UC Davis professor, Charlie Bamforth, the maltose is actually consumed by yeast during the process of fermentation. Like most sugar, maltose delays digestion and causes spikes in insulin levels.
Carbohydrates
Most beverages are derived from sources heavy in carbohydrates. A serving of beer, for instance, has 10 to 20 g of carbohydrates. Light beer, on the other hand, only has 2.5 to 10 g. By comparison, apple juice has 29 g of carbohydrates, and a soda has 40 g. These are the listed values, which only include unmixed beer.
Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a scale that measures carbohydrate's immediate effect on glucose in the blood. The corollary of high GI food is that extra glucose causes insulin to be released, which stores the glucose as fat in tissue. Beer cannot be measured reliably because the amount of beer consumption required to score the GI is untenable. Many people claim that beer has an enormous effect on blood glucose, but that is mostly predicated on the notion that beer is high in maltose, so it may have a more attenuated effect on blood glucose than previously thought. Like most carbohydrates, however, it will still have an effect.
Effects
Glucose is the primary unit of cellular energy in humans. It is derived by breaking down carbohydrates through digestion, so the primary factor in the levels of glucose in the blood and the speed of absorption is the complexity of the carbohydrate, not necessarily glucose content. The amount digested also matters. Beer has moderately complex carbs, so it's unlikely that a beer or two will have much of an effect, but several regular beers a day can pack on pounds and increase blood glucose levels just by sheer amount of carbohydrates. The BBC reports that binge drinkers are the most likely to gain weight and have serious health problems.
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