For a large section of the Belgian population, beer is a not unimportant component of the diet. The alcohol in beer provides calories and influences the consumption of other nutrients.

Soft drinks contain twice as many calories as lager.

The energy value of alcohol is 7 kcal/g. Four 25 cl glasses of lager (around 40 g of alcohol) provide as many calories as 70 g of sugar. Four glasses of a soft drink, coke for example, contain as many calories as 132 g of sugar. This is around twice as much as four glasses of lager. But there is something special about the energy value of alcohol.
When alongside the basic intake of 2,200 kcal/day, a further 2000 kcal are added in the form of beer, then this person will not get as fat as if he had consumed the 2000 extra calories in the form of chocolate. This has been found experimentally, but there is currently no explanation for it. Presumably alcohol is broken down less efficiently than sugar. Moderate beer drinkers thus do not need to worry about getting fat straightaway.

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