Enjoy The Summer With An Ice Cold, Low Carb Beer


Folks who want to enjoy a nice, cold brew and still maintain a
healthy diet have a good friend: low-carb
beer.

Despite what you might guess from witnessing certain new
product launches and advertising campaigns, low-carb
beer is nothing new. In fact, all light beers are low-carb; just
recently have brewers started so vigorously publicizing that fact.
The recent popularity of low-carb
diets put a new focus on
carbohydrates in foods. In an effort to capitalize on this
situation, dozens of books have been published touting everything
from easy, low carb-recipes to how to find a good low-carb friend
and live the low-carb lifestyle.


Even
people not on low-carb diets
find themselves distinguishing between "good" and "bad" carbs
and making their food choices accordingly. Dieters find
themselves on the hunt for alternative foods, like low-carb meat
loaf and low-carb beer.
Fortunately, sacrificing good beer in the name of carb-counting
is unnecessary. Much of the information circulating about
carbohydrates in beer is misleading.


Many people, even those on weight-loss and low-carb diets, enjoy
beer regularly. Beer, like most other beverages, contains no fat.
Light beer, in particular, is low in calories and carbohydrates.
New low-carb beers, capitalizing on the terminology of the day,
have been put to
market in response to the new
dieting trend, and often contain
even less carbohydrates than light beer.


To discuss one of the more common misconceptions about low-carb
beers, we're going to get technical for a minute.
In the brewing process, maltose is created when the barley malt
is first cooked. Maltose is a sugar, a carbohydrate. During the
fermentation process, yeast naturally consumes the maltose and
converts it to alcohol and carbonation.

Therefore, most beers
ultimately contain little or no maltose.
Many diet guides and books designate foods as "good" or "bad"
based solely on their glycemic index. The glycemic index measures
how fast and much a specific food increases blood sugar. Many diet
book authors say beer's glycemic index is high, but this is based
on the mistaken belief that beer contains high levels of maltose or
sugar.


Beer, whether it be regular, light or low-carb beer, is so low
in carbs that it is difficult to accurately measure the glycemic
index. No glycemic index for beer has been published. While the
glycemic index can be a helpful way to begin to understand a food's
nutritional value, the index alone is unreliable for choosing foods
that fit a successful and healthy diet. It does not account for
variable such as serving sizes and the effects of different
combinations of foods.


When it comes to dieting and weight loss, the "beer
belly" is often mentioned, but no such thing actually exists.
Consuming too many calories and not exercising enough will cause
excess fat to develop in any part of the body, determined mainly by
gender and genetics; for the most part, beer is irrelevant.
Most doctors agree the keys to weight loss are moderate food and
beverage intake and regular exercise. Whether you're on a
low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie or some other type of diet, beer -
especially low-carb beer - can be part of a healthy adult
lifestyle.


It is highly advisable to not drink, but if you may, you may
decide to
check out our
carbohydrates in vodka resources at
yourcarb dietpoundsaway.com low recipe
headquarters.

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