Beer Calories: |
Beer Calories
 |
Let's face it: beer isn't associated with a beautiful body. 6-pack abs and a beer belly are two entirely different things!
The beer companies fight pretty hard to keep nutrition information off their labels. Do you know how many calories are in that brew you're chugging?
Here's a better question: If you're trying to lose weight, how can you not know???
Here's a story my husband likes to tell
The first light beer was marketed as "Diet Beer." It went over like a lead balloon.
Beer was indulged in mostly by men, and they didn't like the thought of eating or drinking "diet" anything!
Men didn't want to think about beer calories. It wasn't until some marketing genius had the brilliant idea of describing the lower calorie beer as Lite (or Light), that it started catching on...big time.
And get this: they didn't market it by saying it'd help you stay thin, they marketed it by saying that since it was so "light" you could actually stand to drink more of them in a sitting!
Maybe you drink light beer...
...hoping to keep your beer calories down. That's fine. I hope you're not one of those people who thinks light beer is like diet soda, that is, that it has no calories...because that is certainly not the case!
Roughly speaking, the average 12 ounce bottle or can of regular beer has about 130-160 calories. The average light beer has about 95-110. Not exactly zero!
So how do they keep the calories in light beer down? Two ways...
A little bit less alcohol. (Yes, alcohol has calories. Lots of them!) And a few less carbs. (Probably why most people think light beers don't taste as good.)
So what kind of beer has the fewest calories? I think you know the answer: non-alcoholic beer. (65 calories in that 12 ounce bottle.)
Of course, a healthier option would be to just drink club soda when you're out partying. No calories, you don't have to worry about driving drunk, and it's cheaper!
Remember also that alcohol lowers inhibitions
I'm not talking about dancing with a lampshade on your head. What I mean is that since drinking lowers all your inhibitions, you're actually more likely to eat more than you'd planned when you're drinking, as well.
That's alcohol's double whammy!
However, if you need a drink, you might want to consider wine instead of beer. It doesn't necessarily have fewer calories, but it has health benefits that beer may not. Also, it's a sipping drink, not a chugging drink.
Looking to find out how your brew stacks up? This beer calories by brand chart may have the answer.
Where else might you be getting hidden calories?
Want to lose weight? Click for more help.
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