Article by: Kate Rogers, Accredited Practising Dietitian
Low carbohydrate beers have been heavily promoted in recent years and the sales are soaring. Marketed heavily at the health conscious public, these beers sound too good to be true. Could there really be a beer that doesn’t make you gain weight? A beer that is actually healthy?
One well-known beer manufacturing company was quoted in 2004 when their first low carb beer came onto the market, saying,” We’re not claiming this beer is a ‘health drink’ but it is aimed directly at people who want to lead a healthier lifestyle”.
Well the team at Health Management have examined the nutritional content of a number of these low carb beers and we can tell you conclusively that there is nothing healthy about them. Here we dispel a few myths for you:
Myth No. 1 – REGULAR BEER IS HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATE.
This is false. Regular beer only contains around 10 g carb per 350 ml serve. A low carb beer in comparison will give you between 3 and 7 g carb. The average diet contains at least 400-500g carbohydrate each day. Beer contributes a very small amount of carbohydrate in the diet.
Myth No. 2 – LOW CARB BEERS ARE MUCH LESS FATTENING.
False again. When you compare similar serving sizes (say 330 ml), a low carb beer contains on average 408 kJ compared to a regular beer which contains 515 kJ. This could be a significant difference if you were to have a big night, but if you just had 1 or 2 beers, it is equal to the difference of about half a slice of bread.
Myth No. 3 – LOW CARB BEERS ARE LOW IN ALCOHOL.
Completely false. Low carb beers have almost as much alcohol as regular full-strength beer. A standard low carb beer is the equivalent of 1.3 std drinks whereas a regular beer (same size) is 1.4 std drinks. You may find that you feel intoxicated more quickly with low carb beers because you drink them faster and because the alcohol is absorbed slightly more rapidly into your system. There are now a couple of lower alcohol low carb beers on the market which are equal to 1 std drink.
A NutritionGuru’s advice for those wanting to lose weight or have a healthier diet is:
- Limit your alcohol intake to the recommended safe limits set by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (updated in 2009):
* No more than 2 std drinks/day for women and men - Choose lower alcohol beverages as they contain less alcohol and less kilojoules. Some examples include low alcohol beer, half-nips of spirits, and wine diluted with soda.
Kate’s stakeout of beers that are lower in total energy content.
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