Beer =/= fat

[Tonedef131]

Soda is bad for you whether it is Diet or not. It amazes me how much soda people drink.

It amazes me that people drink it at all. Even if you like the taste of it how do you not go into a sugar coma after like one fluid ounce of it. And like everyone has been saying drinking junk like that is just empty calories...no way it's worth it.

 

[Yooper]

It amazes me that people drink it at all. Even if you like the taste of it how do you not go into a sugar coma after like one fluid ounce of it. And like everyone has been saying drinking junk like that is just empty calories...no way it's worth it.

I have a good friend (a doctor from the hospital) who drinks TONS of diet coke and Crystal Light. He claims it's better than the "real" stuff for him. However, some studies do show that most people who drink diet sodas and soft drinks are overweight. Apparently it has to do with tasting the sweet and being fooled by other foods and minimizing the calories.

I don't know which is worse, high fructose corn syrup in regular soda, or aspartame in the diet stuff. I won't touch either one- I want my food to be in its natural state as much as possible. I also don't eat pre-packaged food, margarine, white flour, crackers, etc. I try to make or grow my own food as much as I can.

I think that's another reason Americans are overweight and generally unhealthy, while being one of the richest nations on earth. We eat Rice-a-Roni and frozen chicken patties and call that a homecooked meal and wash it down with soda or kool-aid. Sit in front of the TV or computer all evening, and not exercise. It's a recipe for obesity, and our children are paying the price.

 

[david_42]

But Nevada ranked first in beer consumption per capita at 44 gallons! (Kudos, Nevadans! ) HOW CAN THIS BE?

Tourists probably drink 75% of it.

This thread reminds me of a short conversation on the topic that I had with my eldest, and largest, sister at a family picnic:

Anita: I don't understand how you stay so skinny.
Me: My first and only plateful was less than your third.

And it really does get tougher after 40. I'm walking 3-4 miles a day, eating 2/3rds of what I ate at 30, drinking 1/4 as much and still weight 20 pounds more.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'll occasionally have a glass bottle of coca-cola...you know, the ones from Mexico that have real sugar. They taste so good. I'll also drink a root beer once in a while. But I see people at work put down 10 diet cokes a day. Sickens me. I mean...I'm not THAT healthy, but goddamn...have a water or some tea or something instead of filling your body with a gallon of fake sugar every day.

 

[the_bird]

In the past week, I've stopped drinking virtually everything with any sugar in it. I drink coffee (black), seltzer, a little diet soda, a little tea, and some bullion ("chicken tea"). I'm watching some other things as well, but I've been shedding about a pound a day. It's still early, can't tell if this will keep going or not (and I'm only looking to shed about twenty points, tops), but it seems to be having a huge effect.

I think I'm going to start brewing some milds and some ordinary bitters and such to have around.

 

[CBBaron]

I can't believe how many people overcomplicate fat loss. Here is an except of a writeup that was put together for another forum I post on. This breaks it down quite a bit and still concludes that calories in:calories out is all that matters for fat loss.

There is a ton more including some that is purely scientific if anyone is interested enough for me to post it.

I stopped reading the article when they considered 20 drinks in an evening not unusual!!!
20 drinks in a week would be unusual for me.

The cookie I had with lunch is much more responsible for my weight than a beer with dinner.

As you say calories in and calories out is the main factors. I try to increase calories out by riding my bicycle to work, however that seems to lead to an increase in calories in so i don't think it helps.

Craig

 

[Tonedef131]

I stopped reading the article when they considered 20 drinks in an evening not unusual!!!
20 drinks in a week would be unusual for me.

The cookie I had with lunch is much more responsible for my weight than a beer with dinner.

As you say calories in and calories out is the main factors. I try to increase calories out by riding my bicycle to work, however that seems to lead to an increase in calories in so i don't think it helps.

Craig

Well, that was 20 drinks in the ounces which they were referring to. It's like the serving size on the can of peanuts, you don't eat 2 peanuts, you eat like 20...so that is 10 servings.

I can't wait for it to warm up to start riding my bike again. Whether it makes me lose weight or just allows me to eat more I don't care, because bicycles are fantastic. Of course I only live 3 miles from work, so I usually just back on the bike after dinner and hammer out a few more miles.

 

[PseudoChef]

I don't know which is worse, high fructose corn syrup in regular soda, or aspartame in the diet stuff. I won't touch either one- I want my food to be in its natural state as much as possible. I also don't eat pre-packaged food, margarine, white flour, crackers, etc. I try to make or grow my own food as much as I can.

Bashing HFCS is silly, in my mind. It contains the same components of regular table sugar - fructose and glucose, in only minimally different proportions. HFCS is usually 55% fructose/45% glucose while sucrose is obviously 50/50. Also, because HFCS is a liquid component that carries water, it actually contains less kcal/gram than regular table sugar.

It is cheaper and easier to handle than regular sugar, however - and thus a large reason for its prevalence today. If everything had the same amount of sucrose in it, it would be causing the same effects.

Blaming HFCS for people being fat is like blaming weapons for injuries. It's user control and error.

The white flour thing puzzles me as well. It's mainly starch, which we all know are long chains of saccharides. Aren't we brewers? This is the same things that are in malt - hell, we brew with wheat on a regular basis, don't we? To say you won't eat white flour but you drink beer is rather confusing.

Now, I agree that an excess of sugar, processed foods, starches, etc. are bad - that's what I've already stated claim of shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store. It's about moderation in consumption, and some exercise to regulate body homeostasis, plain and simple.

 

[CBBaron]

Well, that was 20 drinks in the ounces which they were referring to. It's like the serving size on the can of peanuts, you don't eat 2 peanuts, you eat like 20...so that is 10 servings.

I can't wait for it to warm up to start riding my bike again. Whether it makes me lose weight or just allows me to eat more I don't care, because bicycles are fantastic. Of course I only live 3 miles from work, so I usually just back on the bike after dinner and hammer out a few more miles.

Wait for it to warm up??? What was wrong with the 9F temps this morning? A light dusting of snow and it was a beautiful ride. The only problem with winter riding is the effect of salt on the bike.
I'm a year round rider which I sure helps me maintain my weight. And like you my primary reason for riding is I enjoy it. I've got about 8 urban miles of road on my way to work. I think those 8 miles take about the same effort as 15 on rural roads. Nothing like constant acceleration and deceleration to get the heart rate up.

I'm probably 20-30# overweight but its not because of beer. Its too many snacks and too many prepackaged foods for meals.

Craig

 

[Ceedubya]

I think of soda as a nice treat once in a while. It's been so long since I've regularly had soda that I can no longer tell whether I like coke or pepsi more.

That is pretty much how I roll when it comes to soda. I had a diet coke on Sunday while at Costco cuz my wife was buying drinks at the food stand. Before that, I don't really remember that last time I had a pop.

Oh, and I drink diet cuz I like the taste way better than regular. regular soda is so sweet tasting to me it makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Don't use the word "pop" over here. People think it's a drug reference...they look at you all funny :cross:

 

[CBBaron]

Don't use the word "pop" over here. People think it's a drug reference...they look at you all funny :cross:

Gotta love the regional slang. Always referred to carbonated beverages as pop growing up. In New England noone understood what I was saying. It was soda there. Down south its coke whether it was cola or not.

I can't stand artificial sweeteners. One sip of a diet drink and I have to spit it out. Ofcourse I don't drink regular soda often either. Its primarily water, then beer and coffee, with the occasional milk or fruit juice. Its one place I avoid adding sugar to my diet.

Craig

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Bashing HFCS is silly, in my mind. It contains the same components of regular table sugar - fructose and glucose, in only minimally different proportions. HFCS is usually 55% fructose/45% glucose while sucrose is obviously 50/50. Also, because HFCS is a liquid component that carries water, it actually contains less kcal/gram than regular table sugar.

The white flour thing puzzles me as well. It's mainly starch, which we all know are long chains of saccharides. Aren't we brewers? This is the same things that are in malt - hell, we brew with wheat on a regular basis, don't we? To say you won't eat white flour but you drink beer is rather confusing.

"In his recent book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, journalist Michael Pollan claims that the way that the body processes HFCS is different from the way it processes the glucose and fructose found in other sugars. Digesting sucrose requires the production of an enzyme called sucrase, which breaks the bond between the glucose molecule and the fructose molecule. Because the body regulates its production of sucrase, it can only digest sucrose at a certain rate. Because digesting HFCS does not require sucrase, the rate at which it is digested is not similarly regulated by the body."
​

As for white flour which nutritionally is basically starch, we convert our starches to sugars that are then fermented. If you were to drink your unfermented wort then your comparison would be more accurate.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I don't really eat anything sweet. I don't like candy and I rarely eat desserts or carbs, except a little bread. The majority of my sugars and carbs come from my beer, so it is the culprit for my fat. However, the reason the fat stays there is because I don't get enough excercise.

 

[madcapstudios]

Bashing HFCS is silly, in my mind. It contains the same components of regular table sugar - fructose and glucose, in only minimally different proportions. HFCS is usually 55% fructose/45% glucose while sucrose is obviously 50/50. Also, because HFCS is a liquid component that carries water, it actually contains less kcal/gram than regular table sugar.

It is cheaper and easier to handle than regular sugar, however - and thus a large reason for its prevalence today. If everything had the same amount of sucrose in it, it would be causing the same effects.

Blaming HFCS for people being fat is like blaming weapons for injuries. It's user control and error.

The white flour thing puzzles me as well. It's mainly starch, which we all know are long chains of saccharides. Aren't we brewers? This is the same things that are in malt - hell, we brew with wheat on a regular basis, don't we? To say you won't eat white flour but you drink beer is rather confusing.

Now, I agree that an excess of sugar, processed foods, starches, etc. are bad - that's what I've already stated claim of shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store. It's about moderation in consumption, and some exercise to regulate body homeostasis, plain and simple.

There are several problems with HFCS - the biggest being that, unlike natural sugars, it is stripped of all nutrients, fiber and other naturally occuring food parts which control/slow its rate of absorption into the body. Table sugar is no better. To use an alcohol simile, it's like taking a shot of grain alcohol vs. enjoying a pint of homebrew with a sandwich.

Also, HFCS is used pervasively in the food industry and is very hard for the average person to escape. Take a look at the labels - it's everywhere.

Ultimately, we as a nation are fat because of...
1) lack of exercise
2) super-sized portions
3) processed foods which remove fiber and nutrients, allowing us to mainline sugar directly into our fat cells

I went on the South Beach Diet in support of SWMBO last month and I've lost 10 lbs. I read the book and it makes a lot of sense. I hate talking about "natural foods" because it makes me sound like a damned hippy, but that's really what it's all about. More fiber, whole grains, no processed sugars... oh yeah and exercise and sensible portions.

And no, according to the SBD you're not supposed to have beer because it is a processed sugar... but nobody's perfect. I stick with everything else and I'm fine.

 

[PseudoChef]

"In his recent book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, journalist Michael Pollan claims that the way that the body processes HFCS is different from the way it processes the glucose and fructose found in other sugars. Digesting sucrose requires the production of an enzyme called sucrase, which breaks the bond between the glucose molecule and the fructose molecule. Because the body regulates its production of sucrase, it can only digest sucrose at a certain rate. Because digesting HFCS does not require sucrase, the rate at which it is digested is not similarly regulated by the body."
​

As for white flour which nutritionally is basically starch, we convert our starches to sugars that are then fermented. If you were to drink your unfermented wort then your comparison would be more accurate.

So Pollan says the body metabolises them differently, but the wording is carefully chosen as different. No where does it say if it is better or worse - it's just different. Sugar is sugar. I have read IDoF, and like Pollan's writings and ideology a bunch, but I think he's just grasping here.

As for the breaking down starches into sugars, this is what digestion is. Our bodies harbor some of the same enzymes we're all familiar with in mash chemistry - to break down these starches - amylases - as secreted by our salivary glands, so by the time they hit the GI tract, they are sugars as well. Now, of course it takes energy to make this all possible, but at 7 kcals/gram of alcohol versus 4 kcals/gram carbohydrate it could very well be a law of diminishing returns.

There are several problems with HFCS - the biggest being that, unlike natural sugars, it is stripped of all nutrients, fiber and other naturally occuring food parts which control/slow its rate of absorption into the body. Table sugar is no better. To use an alcohol simile, it's like taking a shot of grain alcohol vs. enjoying a pint of homebrew with a sandwich.

Right, like I said above sugar is sugar. Their molecular structures are the exact same. Sucrose is just as bad as HFCS - can't change up fructose and sucrose into different structures. Sure, is whole wheat flour or brown rice better for you? Well, if you are chosing between that and white flour and white rice, than yes - because their is the accompanying fiber, etc. However, it still contains the same things that white flour and white rice contain, just extra stuff on top of it that is good for you.

Like Pollan says in IDoF, if a food (or nutrient, as he likes to put it) has to tout its health claims on its packaging, it probably isn't that much better for you.

 

[caver95]

My biggest problem is I eat WAY too fast. I started taking a bite a minute it takes 20 to eat a small plate. and I am filling up. I hope I can stick with it. And I have started swimming.

 

[jpsloan]

Quick question on this topic...

Is the Calorie-per-pint line on Beersmith actually accurate? It says that my latest recipe ought to be 63 Calories per pint. I find that to be a little hard to believe.

 

[the_bird]

You brewing an MGD-64 clone?

That can't be right. You sure you've got all the data in there right?

 

[shecky]

Just guessing, but could that be alcohol calories per pint?

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Pseudo, your missing the point. Yes we break down the starches to sugars, but when does our body ferment them into alcohol?

As for HFCS, belive what you want. I won't touch that crap. Don't know about the US, but in Canada they have to list it in the ingredients. Also Pollon talks about the bodys abilty to regulate, I think you missed that part.

 

[PseudoChef]

Pseudo, your missing the point. Yes we break down the starches to sugars, but when does our body ferment them into alcohol?

As for HFCS, belive what you want. I won't touch that crap. Don't know about the US, but in Canada they have to list it in the ingredients. Also Pollon talks about the bodys abilty to regulate, I think you missed that part.

Is HFCS any worse for you than sugar? Probably not, but by avoiding it you'll avoid thousands of empty calories and perhaps even more important, cut out highly processed foods--the ones that contain the most sugar, fat and salt.

My point is simply - there's not a huge difference between HFCS and sucrose - same saccharide components. One has a bond, which the body breaks down, the other doesn't. Again, he uses bad language here. HFCS is sugar. He needs to have said Is HFCS any worse for you than sucrose. If you really want to talk about regulation, take corn sugar. There's no bond there - it's a monosaccharide. Yet no problems with that in the mainstream media?

Fermentation has nothing to do with my argument. It is starting off as starch either way. I just think it's silly for a homebrewer to not consume refined grain products when they use them in the brew process. Also, like I said, there are more kcals/gram of alcohol than carbohydrate anyway.

 

[maltMonkey]

There is nothing wrong with diet soda (unless you buy into the aspartame = instant death propaganda). I drink about 6-8 cans of it a day - it can actually help you lose weight because fluids fill you up and make you feel less hungry. I used to hate diet soda, but after overhauling my lifestyle and diet a couple years ago I acquired a taste for it, and now I can't stand the regular stuff.

BTW, you don't need exercise to lose weight. I'm not saying it doesn't help or that it's not a good thing, but 99% of losing/maintaining your weight is your diet. You can work out all day long then come home and polish off a 12 pack and large pizza -- you're still going to be fat

 

[DeathBrewer]

That's odd. EVERY SINGLE PERSON I have known who quit drinking soda has lost weight.

Funny thing is, most of these people drank diet soda to begin with.

 

[maltMonkey]

That's odd. EVERY SINGLE PERSON I have known who quit drinking soda has lost weight.

Funny thing is, most of these people drank diet soda to begin with.

They must have changed something else too then, because diet soda effectively has zero calories.

 

[cubbies]

There is nothing wrong with diet soda (unless you buy into the aspartame = instant death propaganda). I drink about 6-8 cans of it a day - it can actually help you lose weight because fluids fill you up and make you feel less hungry. I used to hate diet soda, but after overhauling my lifestyle and diet a couple years ago I acquired a taste for it, and now I can't stand the regular stuff.

BTW, you don't need exercise to lose weight. I'm not saying it doesn't help or that it's not a good thing, but 99% of losing/maintaining your weight is your diet. You can work out all day long then come home and polish off a 12 pack and large pizza -- you're still going to be fat

You can lose weight by diet alone, especially if you are overweight, but in order to live a healthy life, exercise is 100% necessary.

And for what it is worth, when I was in the best shape of my life I was drinking regularly and ate whatever I want. But I was in great shape, worked out regularly and had an awesome metabolism.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'm skeptical. Your body does something with that artificial crap.

 

[Tonedef131]

BTW, you don't need exercise to lose weight. I'm not saying it doesn't help or that it's not a good thing, but 99% of losing/maintaining your weight is your diet. You can work out all day long then come home and polish off a 12 pack and large pizza -- you're still going to be fat

There is a lot of truth in this, but diet does not build muscle. Diet alone will allow you to lose weight, but no one cares about losing weight. Losing fat is the name of the game, and in order to get a good physique one must also include exercise.

 

[maltMonkey]

I'm skeptical. Your body does something with that artificial crap.

The diet industry is the craziest industry to navigate when seeking "the truth". People become millionaires off selling people lies. The best thing you can do is educate yourself, using well-educated individuals with no agendas or sales pitches as your sources (think nutrionists and doctors).

I won't try to convince you of anything, but I would encourage you to do some digging and ignore all the BS that is everywhere.

As a side note, I was living a VERY unhealthy lifestyle a couple years ago (never exercising, eating a lot, and drinking WAY too much) and I got pretty fat. At this time I drank a LOT of regular soda. I woke up pissed one day, traded the regular soda for diet, started counting calories, worked my @ss off and lost 60 pounds in a very short amount of time.

I'm not saying that diet soda = weight loss, but at the very least it doesn't hurt anything. It's also a great way to stay hydrated because I don't really enjoy drinking water and I probably wouldn't get enough fluids everyday if it weren't for the diet soda.

 

[maltMonkey]

There is a lot of truth in this, but diet does not build muscle. Diet alone will allow you to lose weight, but no one cares about losing weight. Losing fat is the name of the game, and in order to get a good physique one must also include exercise.

I absolutely agree -- the only point I was trying to make is that many people think 'oh, I'm getting a bit chubby - better starting working out'. Well, that's great, but if you don't alter your eating/drinking habits, it's not going to help you. If fat loss or maintenance is the goal, you MUST get your diet figured out or you will just be spinning your wheels.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I take in the same amount of food no matter what I do. If I exercised, I'd be fine. The only reason I'm fat right now is because I hurt my back and it's difficult to exercise (that and work eats up 12 hours of my sitting at this goddamn desk.)

 

[maltMonkey]

I take in the same amount of food no matter what I do. If I exercised, I'd be fine. The only reason I'm fat right now is because I hurt my back and it's difficult to exercise (that and work eats up 12 hours of my sitting at this goddamn desk.)

I can empathize - I have a desk job and I've &!@#$ed up my back several times in the past couple years. It's not very fun.

 

[nibiyabi]

An elementary school in Germany removed all soda from their food menu and replaced it with low alcohol (< 3% ABV) beers for nutritional reasons. This was a handful of years ago.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

An elementary school in Germany removed all soda from their food menu and replaced it with low alcohol (< 3% ABV) beers for nutritional reasons. This was a handful of years ago.

That's one way to sedate the lil' f'ers!