South Beach Diet Contains Errors on Beer

That is so funny. SBD sucks bigtime. MyST

Some cheap beer uses Barley as a malt replacement but most beer has malt in it. It affects the taste, aroma, mouthfeel, color, clarity, foam, and other characteristics. Unfortunately, the SBD is right but we always have wine!

John's comment about "Barley being a replacement for malt" is 100% inaccurate.

John, the preponderance of beers are made with MALTED BARLEY. Barley is sprouted, then dried and kilned in order to prepare it for brewing. That process is called malting.

As for it affecting the taste, aroma, etc., you are correct, since it is the basic ingredient in nearly every beer made.

Finally, the SBD is 100% WRONG about maltose in beer -- it is fermented by yeast, which in turn produces alcohol and carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Yeast as a rule digests all of the maltose in a given fermenting beer until it is exhausted. This is such a basic life science issue that I think it calls into question much of the science of the SBD. After all, if one gets the basics wrong, their overall outlook is questionable.

Maltose is found in beer only in its early brewing stages and is eliminated when yeast converts it to alcohol and carbonation. In fact alcoholic beverages contain very little carbohydrate, this is why beer will only raise glucose levels slightly. For this reason it is accepted in South Beach Diet.

i wanna try the southbeach diet but i think i will have trouble giving up the brew....i dont really like wine.I think i will try it and drink lite beer and see if i loose any pounds..

Alcohal = poison. Alcohal = fatty liver. Alcohal? Avoid. Beer and wine? Replace with açaí juice, plese.

I think alcoholic beverages are just as damaging to your diet as any sweetened beverage. They've got tons of calories and little or no nutritional value. At least eating an apple fills you up, while drinking apple juice still leaves you hungry.

I think Jim's pointed out before that while the liver is processing alcohol, it can't help you lose weight because it's busy. I probably have an alcoholic beverage once a month, so it would be insincere of me to just say, "don't drink while you're dieting." However, I've never liked lite beers, I'd rather go without.

I don't know anything about the physiology of the liver helping out with weight loss, but I was wondering if, since the liver also processes Tylenol, if you're on anelgesics, does that also affect your weight loss?

-Danielle

You CANNOT expect to lose weight if you drink beer. Plain and simple. Why do you think they call it a "beer belly"? Maltrose or no maltrose...BEER MAKES YOU FAT.

Although there is no maltose in beer, there is alcohol and calories. In SBD, Atkins and any diet induces you to create a negative calorie balance (more burned than consumed). If you drink beer it tends to make you drink more, an possibly increase hunger and eat more. That works against your negative calorie balance. A small amount of alchol can have a positive benefit, but too much is bad for the liver and other organs. Beer does not significantly increase glucose levels in the blood, therefore small amounts consumed with food can be enjoyed while still dieting.

Just to add, beer (and wine)contains significant amounts of nurtients, unlike spirits that contain virtually none.

Calories and Carbs are not mutually exclusive, their ratio to one another in foods and in your diet determine how healthy they are.

As for beer, because of the fermentation process it contains no sugar, although it does have a low amount of carbohydrates (somewhere below 7 for most light beers and 10-12 for most regular beers). As far as calories are concerned, most light beers contain somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 and most regular beers are in the 150-165 range.

Now, using 2000 calories a day as a pretty average recomendation (plus it makes the math easier) 2 real beers or 3 light beers is about 300 calories, or 15% of your caloric intake. If you were to consume the same amount of calories from a typical brown rice medley you would take in 66 grams of carbs as opposed to around 20-25 with a real beer or around 12-15 with a light beer. Add in the fact that beer also contains Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Niacin, and Folate and it's hard to say that beer is really bad for you.

As with anything though moderation is the key; for the typical South Beacher more than a couple of beers starts to creep in on the amount of carbs you should probably be consuming that don't contain a significant amount of dietary fiber.

In the rice's defense in the above example, the 300 calorie serving of rice also provides 10 grams of dietary fiber and 12 grams of protein, which is around 4 times the amount of protein in the beer at an average of 3 grams. As far as the fiber in beer is concerned, the jury is still out, although beer does contain a high amount of fiber some researchers feel that the alcohol in beer may counter some of the effects that the fiber may have.

Hope this helps.

Look....when u drink alot of beer, you get a beer gut...just like whenever you are pre diabetic or you eat alot of bad carbs. Obviously, that shows that drinking beer is not a good idea for losing weight. SBD REALLY works. My GI dr put me on it. My health probs went away and I lost 69 pounds into a size 4. I just had a baby, so I'm on it again. The 1st phase is tough, but it kills alot of cravings. It's worth the effort....even if it means not drinking for a while. I kept the weight off WITHOUT trying later...and I was drinking. Pregnancy bedrest put some pounds back on...but I didn't even get as big pregnant as I was b4.