Alcohol contains 7 kilocalories per gramme. Forty grammes of alcohol (which corresponds to four 25 cl glasses of lager) contains as many calories as 70 g of sugar. As a comparison, four glasses of soft drink (eg. coke) contain as many calories as 132 g of sugar, which is twice as many as four glasses of lager. Beers with a higher alcohol content contain more calories. Wines and spirits contain more calories than beer. Drinking beer in moderate quantities will not necessarily mean putting on weight, which has been confirmed in recent research on beer consumption and obesity. In a group of people who had drunk beer over the previous year there were fewer obese people (> 30 kg/m2) than in the group that had not drunk any beer at all. After correcting for all co-factors (such as smoking, age, sex, etc) it was found that beer consumption does not increase the amount of obesity. The data will be looked at later in this chapter.
An isocalorific diet means that the excessive drinker leaves out other (frequently essential) components of food and opts for a more “consistent” diet.

The idea that beer makes people fat probably has its origins in the lifestyle and eating habits that are often coupled with beer drinking. Drinking beer increases the appetite and alcohol also relaxes control over our eating behaviour. Heavy beer drinkers generally go for fatty calorific food (snacks, chips, sausages, nuts, etc) and generally do little exercise. Research has also shown that the bodies of people who drink a lot of beer burn less fat. The body is probably inclined to burn the alcohol first. The excess fat has to go somewhere and is accumulated above the abdominal muscles. The result is well known.

The so-called beer belly is thus not a direct effect of high beer consumption, but rather the unhealthy diet and lifestyle coupled with it, in combination with reduced fat combustion by the body. It is thus better to have beer as a component of the diet rather than a stimulant consumed separately from meals (beer already has this image).

How many calories in a 25 cl glass or cup?td>
25 cl water	0 kcal
25 cl black coffee	0 kcal
25 cl table beer	59 kcal
25 cl unsweetened fruit juice	100 kcal
25 cl soft drink	110 kcal
25 cl geuze beer	110 kcal
25 cl lager	110 kcal
25 cl heavy beer	137 tot 200 kcal
25 cl wine	150 kcal
25 cl milk	170 kcal

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