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Can root beer contribute to weight gain? If consumed in moderation, root beer is not likely to contribute significantly to weight gain. However, excessive consumption of root beer, especially those sweetened with sugar or corn syrup, can lead to weight gain due to their calorie content.
- Overview
- What is Beer?
- Beer Nutrition Facts
- 3 Ways That Beer May Cause Fat Gain
- Does Beer Really Cause You to Gain Belly Fat?
- Men Have a Higher Risk Than Women
- Do Other Types of Alcohol Cause Belly Fat?
- How to Get Rid of Your Beer Belly
- Bottom Line
Drinking beer can cause weight gain, including belly fat. More than 1 beer a day or regular binge drinking raises your risk of belly fat gain and other health problems.
Drinking beer is often associated with an increase in body fat, particularly around the belly. This is even commonly referred to as a “beer belly.”
Beer is an alcoholic drink made from grain, such as barley, wheat or rye, that has been fermented with yeast (1).
It’s flavored using hops, which make a great flavoring for beer since they’re quite bitter, balancing out the sweetness from the sugar in the grains.
Some varieties of beer are also flavored with fruit or herbs and spices.
Beer is brewed in a five-step process:
1.Malting: The grains are heated, dried and cracked.
2.Mashing: The grains are soaked in water to release their sugars. This results in a sugary liquid called “wort.”
The nutritional value of beer can vary by type. However, below are the amounts for a 12-oz (355-ml) serving of regular beer, with approximately 4% alcohol content (2):
•Calories: 153
•Alcohol: 14 grams
•Carbs: 13 grams
•Protein: 2 grams
•Fat: 0 grams
It’s been suggested that beer drinking may increase belly fat in a number of ways.
These include causing excess calorie consumption, preventing your body from burning fat and increasing the phytoestrogen content of your diet.
The fat stored around your belly is thought to be the most dangerous type of fat for your health.
Scientists call this type of fat visceral fat (10).
Visceral fat is metabolically active, which means it can interfere with your body’s hormones.
This can alter the way your body functions and increase your risk of diseases like metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer (11, 12).
Even people who are at a normal weight have an increased risk of health problems if they have a large amount of belly fat (13).
Some studies have linked high alcohol intake from drinks like beer to an increased risk of belly fat gain (14).
The link between weight gain and drinking alcohol is stronger in men than women. This is thought to be because men tend to drink more heavily than women, perhaps up to three times as much (7, 20, 21, 22).
Men are also much more likely to have an android fat distribution, meaning they store fat around the belly when they gain weight (23, 24).
Additionally, men are more likely to drink beer than women. This could be important since beer contains more calories than many other sources of alcohol.
For example, 1.5 oz (45 ml) of spirits contains around 97 calories and a standard 5-oz (148-ml) serving of red wine contains 125 calories. A standard 12-oz (355-ml) serving of beer contains more than both of these at 153 calories (2, 25, 26).
Another reason men may be at more risk of getting a beer belly is due to alcohol’s effect on the male sex hormone testosterone. Drinking alcoholic drinks like beer has been shown to lower levels of testosterone (27, 28, 29).
This is important to note, since low levels of testosterone may increase your risk of weight gain, especially around the belly (30, 31, 32, 33).
The most likely way beer contributes to belly fat is through the excess calories it adds to your diet.
Other types of alcohol like spirits and wine have fewer calories per standard drink than beer. This means they may be less likely to cause weight gain and belly fat.
Interestingly, some studies have linked drinking moderate amounts of wine with lower body weights (35).
The reason for this is unclear, although it’s been suggested that wine drinkers have healthier, more balanced diets compared to beer and spirit drinkers (7, 36).
What’s more, studies have shown that the amount of alcohol you consume and how frequently you consume it also matter when it comes to your waistline.
In fact, one of the most risky behaviors for developing a beer belly seems to be binge drinking. Studies have found that drinking more than four drinks at one time can increase your risk of belly fat, no matter what drink you choose (19, 37, 38, 39).
The best way to get rid of a beer belly is through diet and exercise.
If you’re drinking heavily, you should also think about limiting your alcohol intake or giving it up completely.
Try to avoid binge drinking, or having a lot of alcohol over one or two days.
Unfortunately, there’s not one perfect diet for reducing belly fat. However, diets that contain low amounts of processed meats, sugary drinks and refined grain products have been linked with smaller waistlines (40, 41).
So, if you’re trying to lose weight and improve your health, switch to a diet mostly based on whole, unprocessed foods and cut back on added sugar (42, 43, 44).
Exercise is also a really effective way for both men and women to lose belly fat. Both cardio and high-intensity exercise can help (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51).
Drinking beer can cause weight gain of any type — including belly fat.
Keep in mind that the more you drink, the higher your risk of weight gain is.
It seems that moderate drinking of one beer per day (or less) is not linked with getting a “beer belly.”
However, if you drink a lot of beer or binge drink regularly then you are at a very high risk of belly fat gain, as well as various other serious health problems.
Sep 6, 2024 · High sugar content in most commercial root beers, which can contribute to weight gain, tooth decay, and increased risk of diabetes when consumed frequently. Low nutrient density as root beer is primarily composed of sugar and flavorings, offering minimal vitamins or minerals.
Consuming excessive amounts of root beer, or any soft drink for that matter, can contribute to weight gain, tooth decay, and the risk of developing chronic health conditions like diabetes. It is crucial to practice moderation when it comes to consuming root beer or any other soft drinks.
Jan 2, 2024 · There’s no evidence to show that drinking beer contributes specifically to weight gain around the abdomen area, aka the beer belly. But there’s plenty of evidence that beer and other types of ...
For example, some general risks of drinking root beer include an increased risk of weight gain, dehydration, and a decreased intake of nutritious drinks and beverages. A major component of root beer is caffeine, and drinking too much can lead to dehydration and other negative side effects.
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Sep 25, 2023 · One of the main concerns with root beer is its high sugar content. While some root beers contain natural sugars, others are loaded with added sugars, which can contribute to weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes and other health issues when consumed in large quantities.
