You've probably read that if you don't want a ‘beer belly' you'd better put down that cold one. But if you like beer there may not be reason to give up moderate indulgence – despite the low-carb media blitz.

There are new brews that are lower in carbs that may save your summer. They have the fuller flavor of “real” beer and put their low-calorie cousins to shame. Today, we'll look at the carb count of these new brews and how low carb beers are made.

The best part? You don't have to live a monk's life to be in good shape after all.

*Carb Bellies*

Beer is taking the hit for bad diets and lack of effective exercise. Weight gain is from eating too much of the wrong foods without the activity needed to burn them off. In other words, you can have a Pepsi-belly just as easily as a beer belly. Or a chip-belly or a French fry belly.

Beer making begins with malted barley, which contains a sugar called maltose and other starches. Does this equal high carbs? Yes. But wait...

If they stopped there and bottled, they'd never sell the stuff – because it's not beer yet. During the next step, the fermentation process, they add yeast. Yeast cells live on sugar. They feast on the maltose and convert it into alcohol and natural carbonation: the beverage you know as beer.

If you stop this fermentation process earlier, you will leave unfermented carbs. Let the feeding frenzy of yeast on sugar go on longer and you reduce the carb count.

*Getting Beer of the Hook*

A new study from Israel suggests that drinking a beer a day keeps heart attacks away. Men with heart disease drinking one beer a day for a month decreased cholesterol levels, increased antioxidants and reduced levels of fibrinogen, a clot-producing protein.

Several studies have linked moderate alcohol consumption to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack. Moderate drinkers have a lower risk of heart disease than non-drinkers do.
Now Busch has announced that the first low-carb beer, Michelob Ultra has had the fastest growth of sales of any beer they've ever introduced. The good news here is that brewers are looking for their slice of the new market. And each new brew seems to outperform the last, in terms of flavor and fullness. The reigning three kings of low-carb brews are:

Michelob Ultra by Anheuser Busch with 2.6 g of carbs.
Aspen Edge by Coors with 2.6 g of carbs.
Rock Green Light by Rolling Rock with 2.6g of carbs.

Compared to the average count of 11 grams of carbs for domestic beer – and as much as 20-30 g. for European imports, you can dramatically cut your carbs by making the switch to a low-carb variety. These low-carb beers compare well to mixed drinks. A bottled Margarita has 24 grams of carbohydrate and a Smirnoff Ice has 32 g.

There are more on the way as these beers start racking up sales at the register of every corner bar and convenience store across the country. If you like beer you may be able to kick back and enjoy a cold one with a little less guilt this summer.

Al Sears, M.D.

Sources:
Rapid Analysis of Saccharides in Beer via Fluorescence-Assisted Carbohydrate Electrophoresis, Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, 58(3):124-127, 2000
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/news-NG.asp?id=6140