According to Popular Science China, in the hot summer, there is nothing more pleasant than beer skewers, if there is, it is another drink. However, there has always been a saying that drinking beer will make people gain weight and lead to beer belly. Does drinking beer make people fat? Is the "beer belly" really caused by drinking beer?
What's going on with the "beer belly"?
We often refer to middle-aged men with big bellies as "beer bellies," in large part because these middle-aged men need to socialize and drink beer regularly. Not only Chinese say this, but even abroad call it (beer belly). Over time, people put the charge of men getting fat and their stomachs bigger on beer. Moreover, with the development of society, beer belly has become more and more youthful.
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In fact, the enlargement of the stomach is the common name of abdominal obesity, which is caused by the accumulation of fat in the internal organs, and its main cause is obesity. Obesity is mainly related to energy intake and consumption, if the energy intake is greater than the energy consumption, it will lead to obesity, fat is easy to accumulate in these places in the stomach.
Is the "culprit" of beer belly beer beer?
The root cause of beer belly is obesity, which is related to energy balance. So, to say that the culprit is beer is too wrong to blame it. First of all, ordinary beer itself is not a very energetic food. Let's first compare two data:
From these data, it can be seen that beer is not high energy in alcohol, nor is it more energetic than other common drinks.
Second, alcohol metabolism does not store in the human body as energy. Alcohol's energy metabolism is not the same as the three major energy supplies (protein, fat and carbohydrates) we usually eat, and it is almost not stored in the body as energy. Obesity is also related to people's daily diet. If the total energy intake is not high and the energy consumption is large, it will not lead to obesity and the accumulation of fat in the abdomen. From the perspective of the whole meal, beer is just a source of energy, and if the total energy intake is not high, it will not lead to abdominal obesity. Therefore, to say that beer is the culprit of the "beer belly" is a bit wronged.
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But does beer actually lead to abdominal obesity? Scientists have also conducted a lot of research and exploration. But the results were inconsistent. Some studies suggest that beer promotes a "beer belly," but others believe that it doesn't. In response to the current findings, in 2013, researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on beer, obesity and abdominal obesity published up to 2010, and after excluding the problematic studies, they analyzed a total of 35 observational studies and 12 experimental studies, and found that there is currently insufficient evidence to show that drinking no more than 500 ml of beer per day is directly associated with abdominal obesity, but, Drinking more than this amount of beer may be associated with abdominal obesity. Therefore, from the current point of view, it is difficult to say that beer is the culprit of the "beer belly"; Drinking a small amount of beer does not necessarily lead to abdominal obesity, but drinking more beer can still lead to obesity. If you drink beer at the same time, you still take a big gulp, eat a lot, and don't exercise, it is even more difficult to think of not being fat.
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Can you rest assured that beer skewers?
Although drinking a small amount of beer does not necessarily lead to a beer belly. However, this does not mean that you can drink freely. In fact, drinking a lot of beer is not good for health.
First of all, drinking more beer will still make it easier for you to gain weight.
Beer is low in energy, but it still contains energy. The ethanol in the wine can be converted into acetic acid and enters the tricarboxylic acid cycle to convert into the energy available to the cells - ATP. Although the efficiency of alcohol being converted into energy in the human body is not high, it cannot be ignored after all. Alcohol can weaken the body's fat metabolism. Our body cannot store alcohol, which is quickly metabolized and consumed after drinking. The rate at which people consume fat in the body decreases significantly after drinking alcohol, because the human body first metabolizes the energy of alcohol. Studies have found that drinking two cups of vodka reduces the metabolic rate of body fat by 70%. The fat that is consumed is not consumed, and the amount of fat stored increases.
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Drinking alcohol also increases appetite and makes people eat more food unconsciously. When beer is skewered, the higher the wine is drunk, the more the skewers will be, which is actually an increase in appetite after drinking. Studies have found that when people eat, if they drink alcohol, they tend to eat more and are more likely to gain weight. Secondly, drinking a lot of alcohol will also increase the risk of various chronic diseases, laying hidden dangers for health. Numerous studies have found that even a small amount of alcohol consumption increases the risk of diseases such as cirrhosis and cancer.
For example, studies have found that even small amounts of alcohol (no more than 25 grams of alcohol per day) increase the risk of disease, including an 86% increase in the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer, a 39% increase in the risk of esophageal cancer, a 43% increase in the risk of laryngeal cancer, a 25% increase in the risk of breast cancer, a 43% increase in the risk of essential hypertension, a 1.9-fold increase in the risk of cirrhosis, a 34% increase in the risk of chronic pancreatitis, and the greater the risk of drinking. So, even if drinking beer won't make you grow a beer belly, don't drink it!
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How to control the amount of alcohol consumed?
Drinking too much is not good for health, how to control it? It is recommended that if you never drink, it is best to continue to maintain and do not pick up the wine glass; If you really want to drink, try to drink as little as possible, men do not drink more than 2 servings per day, and women do not drink more than 1 serving per day. What is the "1 serving of alcohol consumption"? This refers to alcohol that contains 0.6 ounces (about 18 milliliters) of alcohol. Corresponding to the usual liquor, 1 drinking unit is roughly equivalent to 355 ml of beer (1 can of beer), or 150 ml of wine, or 45 ml of 40 degree liquor (if it is 60 degrees, only 30 ml).
Healthy life, it is recommended that you still do not drink alcohol!
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