Is 'beer belly' for real?

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blytheandbonnie
blytheandbonnie Posts: 3,275 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I like beer. I drink beer. I carry my weight predominantly in my stomach. As did my mother, as did my father. My husband insists that it is because I drink beer, although he has for years, also, and has no 'beer belly'. Is it really the beer or just the way I store fat, genetically? Is there any truth at all to the 'beer belly' designation?

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  • dr3w_s
    dr3w_s Posts: 88 Member
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    I don't think so, I know somebody who doesn't drink any alcohol and he has a belly of a pregnant woman
  • gwhizeh
    gwhizeh Posts: 267 Member
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    Myth.

    But drink to much of anything and it will add up.

    http://now.msn.com/kathryn-osullivan-nutritionist-says-beer-belly-is-a-myth
  • MsLilly200
    MsLilly200 Posts: 192 Member
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    I think if you're sensitive to grains you can get a bloated stomach and beer is made from grains. But I dunno if that has anything to do with it or if it's true or not.
  • blytheandbonnie
    blytheandbonnie Posts: 3,275 Member
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    Myth.

    But drink to much of anything and it will add up.

    http://now.msn.com/kathryn-osullivan-nutritionist-says-beer-belly-is-a-myth
    A study by the British beer industry? Biased? Not necessarily, but suspect.
  • tomg33
    tomg33 Posts: 305 Member
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    That article made my brain cry. Beer is less energy-dense than wine and spirits? That's cool. Except for the fact that they're not consumed in the same amounts...

    There's a reason why, for weight-loss purposes, spirits are ideal -- you get the effect of the alcohol for the smallest amount of calories.
  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    VISCERAL FAT , its fat around the organs .
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    That article made my brain cry. Beer is less energy-dense than wine and spirits? That's cool. Except for the fact that they're not consumed in the same amounts...

    There's a reason why, for weight-loss purposes, spirits are ideal -- you get the effect of the alcohol for the smallest amount of calories.

    But I personally appreciate beer for the taste, not the effect of the alcohol. I won't relish a vodka tonic the way I do a well crafted microbrew...
  • tomg33
    tomg33 Posts: 305 Member
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    That's fine. Enjoy your beer--I sure do--but count your calories. Excessive alcohol consumption has serious effects such as the blunted absorption of nutrients but it doesn't seem like you're in that category. Chronic alcohol intake plays with your testosterone and so some say that this can result in body fat being preferentially stored as visceral fat (around the organs, the killer stuff) rather than subcutaneously (beneath the skin). But again, unless you're an alcoholic I don't think this is a serious concern, and besides this applies to all alcohol, not just beer.

    So, cheers!
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    There is some evidence of a correlation between heavy alcohol consumption and "beer belly"...

    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/133/8/2655.full

    Or maybe not...

    http://www.jrussellshealth.org/alc_abdomfat.html
  • prium01
    prium01 Posts: 306 Member
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    I think so its true, I had but it resulted due to other alcoholic drinks and of course beer, alcohol increased my fatty food consumption ...I mostly used to binge on weekends and also did no exercise...I have made a lifestyle change now...Alcohol is first burnt and then fat, this may happen for 4-5 days or more depending on how much you drink, so you burn less fat...
  • sarahcuddle
    sarahcuddle Posts: 349 Member
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    Where you are carrying your fat now relates to your age also. As we get older metabolism slows down and fat tends to be stored around the middle section more. This is the most dangerous because it does relate to the visceral fat around your organs that someone else has mentioned. I think I am right in saying that your waist measurement can be directly correlated to your risk of developing certain diseases like diabetes and heart disease. It's not just the beer though, it's all the extra calories you consume that lay down this fat.

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