Drinking beer can lead to weight gain because it adds calories to your daily total and also affects your metabolism. Light beer has on average 100 calories per can, while regular boosts your caloric intake by 140 to 200 per 12 oz. serving. This combination of factors can lead to the classic beer belly.
Fat Metabolism
Drinking alcohol such as beer reduces the amount of fat your body will burn for energy. Your body then stores the unburned fat in your belly, thighs or other places that you are prone to put on weight. Alcohol does not appear to affect carbohydrate metabolism and may slightly increase protein metabolism.
Swapping Calories
If you swap alcohol calories for dietary calories you may actually burn slightly more calories overall than when you do not drink. That's due to alcohol's effect on protein metabolism. However, you'll still burn about 1/3 fewer fat calories, so even if you lose weight, your body composition is likely to be altered and feature more fat.
Adding Calories
If you are like most people you do not reduce caloric intake from food when drinking -- and may even increase it. This means that, even though your body burns off most of the calories you consume from alcohol, it will store the excess calories you consume from fat, protein and carbohydrates in the form of fat.
Considerations
If you plan to drink and are worried about gaining weight there are a few things you can do to minimize the impact. Plan the calories from your beer into your quota for that day. Or, if you know you will have some beer over the weekend cut back on calories a bit throughout the week, according to the University of Rochester in New York. However, don't skip meals when you know you'll be having beer. Contrary to popular sayings, beer is not food and won't satisfy hunger. Alcohol will, in fact, lower your blood sugar levels, which will in turn signal your brain that you are hungry. Also, caffeine does not offer a protective effect from slowed fat metabolism, notes a 2004 study published in "Medical Science Monitor."
References
- New York Times: "Why A Beer Belly is Precisely That"; April 1992
- "Jane Brody's Nutrition Book"; Jane E. Brody; 1981
- University of Rochester: Caloric Values of Alcoholic Beverages
- National institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Alcohol Alert; July 2007
- "Overweight and Weight Management"; Sharron Dalton; 1997
- "Medical Science Monitor"; Effects of Dietary Caffeine and Alcohol on Liver Carbohydrate and Fat Metabolism in rats; J.V. Martin, et al.; 2004
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