Home » Blogs » James Townsend's blog
Wellwise.org: Supplements, Science and Strategies for a Healthier World
  • Health Blogs
    • Brain Blog
    • Food Blog
    • GMO Blog
    • Krill Oil Blog
    • Mom Blog
    • Radiation Blog
  • Health Conditions
  • Supplements
    • Krill Oil
      • Krill Oil Reviews
      • What is Krill Oil
      • Krill Sustainability
      • Krill Oil Side Effects
      • Krill Oil vs Fish Oil
    • Astaxanthin
    • Omega 6
    • Glutathione
    • Vitamin C
  • Videos
  • About Us

Weight Loss Blog: What Makes Americans Fat?, Part 4

Submitted by James Townsend on Thu, 2011-07-07 14:40
  • Health Conditions
  • Diabetes
  • Weight Management
Share
Tweet
Email This PageEmail This Page

Do you believe all those slender people in the beer commercials?

Alcohol is a big contributor to weigh gain ion America.We refused to believe this statistic: Beer adds a whopping 43,050 calories per year. That number – 22 days of recommended food calories for a woman, and 17 days for a man – is simply beyond comprehension. And that’s the average for each American 15 and older. We had such a hard time believing these alcohol consumption statistics from our government’s National Institutes for Health that we cross checked them against the beer-consumption statistics from the beer Brewers Association.

 

 

9.4 oz beer per American – or ¾ of a can – every day

We are the last to argue for prohibition. But …

 

Doughnuts

Chips

French Fries

Beer

Drink?

Servings per year per person in the US

                32

 96

177

287

 

Calories per serving

             260

155

230

 150

 

Total calories per year

          8,347

14,880

40,817

43,050

 

Weight gained per serving (gram)

            24.6

 14.6

21.7

 14.2

 

Lbs weight gained per year per person

              1.7

 3.1

 8.5

9.0

9.9

Miles to walk off calories per year

             125

 223

 612

646

 

Miles per day

            0.34

0 .61

 1.68

1.77

 

 

Since prohibition hasn’t and won’t work, here are a few simple ideas that will work if you’re not an alcoholic. The bottom line is moderation:

  • Before you have your first beer, at home or at a bar, drink a full glass of water. The water intake will lessen your thirst and will, to some degree, replace the desire to drink beer.
  • Switch to wine, especially in a bar. Wine is more expensive, and calorie content per serving is a little less (123 calories in a 6 oz wine serving versus 150 calories in a 12 oz beer can.  The switch to wine makes more sense in a bar setting than at home.
  • Don’t drink every day. This makes not only sense from a calorie perspective, but it also keeps you out of AA!
  • Don’t drink alone.
  • Don’t drink before a certain time (like dinner time).

Alcohol: Beer consumption for Americans

There are many more reasons than calories to take it easy with beer.

Ah, you say, I only drink wine or spirits. Well, in the end wine and spirits are as fattening as beer. Actually, the NIH statistics show that we drink as much alcohol from wine and spirits combined as we drink from beer. Surprisingly, alcohol consumption has stayed fairly stable over the past 150 years, with the exception of the period of Prohibition and the following decade. But remember, demand for black market alcohol was pretty high during Prohibition, so statistics during that period are not very accurate.

Alcohol consumption in America

Beer adds an astounding 9 lbs to each American (15 and older) on average per year

The calorie intake from beer is simply astounding. The 43,050 calories translate to 9 lbs of body fat. This conversion is based on the fact that 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories, and that the metabolic conversion is only 85 percent efficient, meaning that we burn 15 percent of the calories in the process of making body fat. The scientific underpinning of this calculation can be found on Wikipedia in the “Food Energy” entry.

Nutirion Facts for Beer in America

References:

http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/DatabaseResources/QuickFacts/AlcoholSales/Pages/default.aspx

https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/heineken/heineken-beer

http://www.winepros.org/wine101/wine-health.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy

 

Share This Article Using:
  • Buzz Up! Buzz Up!
  • del.icio.us del.icio.us
  • Digg Digg
  • Facebook Facebook
  • Google Google
  • LinkedIn LinkedIn
  • MySpace MySpace
  • Newsvine Newsvine
  • Ping This! Ping This!
  • Reddit Reddit
  • StumbleUpon StumbleUpon
  • Technorati Technorati
  • Yahoo Yahoo

Comments

Post new comment

  • HTML tags will be transformed to conform to HTML standards.
  • You may use <swf file="song.mp3"> to display Flash files inline

More information about formatting options

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

Our Social Sites & Feeds

Facebook Twitter RSS Feed

James Townsend
James Townsend's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 22 weeks ago
Joined: 2010-02-12

From the Editor

James Townsend is a 28-year veteran of journalism, and former editor in chief at WellWise.org. Read a more complete bio..

From the Editor

  • From the Editor
  • Posts
    • 2012
      • October (1)
      • September (1)
      • August (1)
      • July (1)
      • June (1)
      • May (1)
    • 2011
      • July (2)
      • June (7)
      • May (2)
      • April (9)
      • March (5)
      • February (12)
      • January (12)
    • 2010
      • December (1)
      • November (4)
      • October (2)
      • September (1)
      • August (5)
      • July (2)
      • May (3)

Recent blog posts

  • brain-training-review
  • A horse ride down holiday lane.
  • Make the most of the holiday season with this simple tip.
  • One more month to inspire yourself in 2012
  • GMO Blog: More States, Nations Rebel Against Monsanto’s GMOs
  • GMO Blog: Monsanto’s Unfulfilled Promises
  • GMO Blog: Evidence mounting that GMOs pose significant health risks
  • Health Blog: What to Do to Help Fight the Ill Effects of Trans Fats
  • GMO Blog: What You Can Do To Keep GMO's Off Your Plate
  • Health Blog: How to Avoid Foods Containing Trans Fats
more

Popular Tags

Cardiovascular Health Men's Health Brain Health Phospholipid Joint Health Supplements Fish Oil Astaxanthin Immunity Health Conditions Vitamin D Inflammation Women's Health Weight Management Diabetes ADHD Aging Omega-3s Krill Oil Vitamin C

Health Conditions

ADHD
Aging
Bone Health
Brain Health
Cancer
Cardiovascular Health
Depression
Diabetes
Digestive Health
Eye Health
Immunity
Inflammation
Joint Health
Men's Health
Prenatal
Skin Health
Stress
Weight Management
Women's Health

Supplements

Aloe
Alpha-Lipoic Acid
Astaxanthin
Beta-carotene
Calcium
Choline
Chromium
Cinnamon
Coenzyme Q10
Cranberry
Curcumin
DHEA
Fish Oil
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginseng
Green Tea
Krill Oil
Lutein
Lycopene
Magnesium
Omega-3s
Phosphatidylcholine
Phosphatidylserine
Phospholipid
Prebiotics
Probiotics
Pycnogenol
Red yeast rice
Resveratrol
Selenium
Vitamin A
Vitamin B
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K2
Zeaxanthin
Zinc
Syndicate content

Copyright © 2013 WellWise.org
A trusted source for science-based information and commentary about dietary supplements and nutrition.

Contact Us Privacy Policy