My neighbor’s hobby is visiting various breweries — locally, and wherever he might be while traveling. Usually a few times a week, we get together in the late afternoon and discuss things in general and often solve some of the world’s problems over a couple of beers. Recently, during those sessions, he’s been drinking iced tea. I didn’t think much about it for a while, but I asked him why no beer… he told me that he was trying to lose some weight and he was cutting out beer for a while.
I’ve alway heard that drinking beer will give you a “beer belly.” I’ve never thought much about it, but I know some beer drinkers that definitely have a beer belly. But — I know beer drinkers that definitely don’t have a whopping waistline. So, I figured this called for some extensive research. After all, it is an important topic.
The Czech Republic is the world champion in per capita beer consumption. In 2007 a team of Czech researchers studied 2,000 male and female beer drinkers. They found no direct link between obesity and the amount of beer one consumes. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that beer can’t make you fat — it can. Beer contains plenty of calories, but beer on its own apparently isn’t the culprit.
In 1992, Swiss physiologists determined that alcohol in the bloodstream can slow the body’s ability to burn fat by about 30 percent. That means that high-fat foods become even more powerful when combined with alcohol. And if you think about it, in a room full of beer drinkers, a plate of salad doesn’t get much attention but bowls of potato chips and cheeseburgers usually disappear pretty fast.
I also found a recent study in Italy that suggests that some men are genetically predisposed to develop a sizable midsection — doesn’t matter what they choose to eat or drink.
So, the (my) conclusion is that beer can play a role in the development of a beer belly — but, it’s not a requirement to get one.
Not sure my neighbor will agree with my findings……
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