Is it possible to drink beer while losing weight?
Many people are still convinced of the fact that the concepts of alcohol and diet are incompatible.
This is not true: you can drink beer while losing weight. The myth that you get better from an intoxicating drink is based rather on the fact that along with it a person, as a rule, eats a lot of snacks (snacks), which are high in calories. Various crackers, chips, and nuts often contain sugar substitutes, flavor enhancers, and preservatives, which cause weight gain. The high salt content in such snacks retains fluid in the body, which is where extra pounds and swelling occur. The intoxicating drink itself has a low calorie content, only about 53 kcal per 100 ml (depending on the type of drink), which allows you to include it in the diet without compromising your health.
pros
Many thinking people will perceive this technique as another “crazy” way to gain harmony, but there is still a grain of truth in it.
Firstly, beer itself is not that high in calories - on average there are 43 kcal per 100 ml. And at the same time, it creates a short-term feeling of fullness in the stomach and muffles acute hunger. A regular glass contains 96–100 kcal, which will support someone losing weight throughout the day, relieving them of sadness and melancholy.
Secondly, a liter of low-alcohol drink partially satisfies the daily requirement of an adult for some nutrients, vitamins and minerals:
- proteins - by 4%;
- carbohydrates - by 22%;
- B1 - 7%;
- B2 - 28%;
- PP - 40%;
- potassium - 16%;
- calcium - 9%;
- magnesium - 20%;
- sodium - 12%;
- phosphorus - 15%;
- iron - 6%.
Thirdly, a person on a diet inevitably faces restrictions, which, after a long food binge, are perceived by many as very painful: they worsen mood, reduce motivation and increase the likelihood of a breakdown.
Therefore, for a fighting spirit and gentle adaptation of the body to a new food regime, it is advisable not to suddenly exclude your favorite foods.
But, in fairness, it is worth noting that such a temporary relaxation should look somewhat different, for example, beer fans can limit themselves to a small bottle after work, gradually reducing the weekly volume of drinks.
The benefits of beer
Drinking a foamy drink will not only help you lose unnecessary pounds, but also improve your well-being and appearance. The components included in its composition bring the following benefits to the human body:
- Yeast. They contain almost all B vitamins. They are known for the good regenerative function of nerve cells, skin, hair, and nails. B vitamins are actively involved in metabolic processes at all levels.
- Alcohol. This product relaxes the body in small doses. Alcohol also activates metabolism when losing weight, which helps you lose weight faster.
- Hop. A medicinal plant that lowers cholesterol in the blood, successfully fights cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels. Thanks to these properties, hops have a positive effect on the entire cardiovascular system. In addition, the plant has calming properties and normalizes sleep.
- Iron. Increases the level of hemoglobin (a complex iron-containing protein) in the blood, promotes the effective functioning and restoration of tissues and all organ systems.
- Potassium. Responsible for controlling the processes of urination and fluid exchange, which is a key point for regulating blood pressure, the functioning of the heart and blood vessels.
- Magnesium. Positively affects the reproductive system.
No diet program is perfect; they all have advantages and disadvantages. The undeniable benefits of beer for weight loss, which appear during fasting days:
- strengthening the immune system;
- saturating the body with vitamins and minerals;
- lowering cholesterol levels;
- improvement of metabolic processes;
- washing out sand, grinding away stones in the presence of urolithiasis of the kidneys.
General rules
Beer is the favorite drink of a large number of people, but it is considered high in calories and spoils the figure. The fact that beer makes your belly grow has been refuted by Italian nutritionists, who have developed a unique beer diet. It is based on limited consumption of high-calorie foods and drinking chilled beer, which requires more energy to heat and digest. The beer diet for weight loss allows you to lose up to 4 kg of weight in 1 week.
Myths about the dangers and calorie content of beer
It all depends on the type of beer - dark beer is the highest in calories, its energy value can reach 53 kilocalories per 100 g of drink, and light beer has the least calories.
It is important to know that the most calories come from our fun beer feasts, namely from very salty snacks. In addition to the fact that nuts, chips and crackers already contain calories, preservatives, sweeteners and flavor substitutes, a high percentage of salt content retains fluid in the body.
Can you drink beer while on a diet?
As you know, the concepts of diet and beer are incompatible. Scientists have now come to the conclusion that this drink itself, in moderate quantities, can have benefits for human health. It strengthens the cardiovascular system, prevents “bad cholesterol ” from accumulating and depositing on the vascular walls, accelerates metabolic processes and stimulates the immune system , helps wash away sand and grind away stones in urolithiasis of the kidneys .
Beer diet for weight loss
The essence of the beer diet for weight loss is that a person should drink about 1 liter of beer per day for a week, and it is necessary to limit oneself in food. The high content of micro- and macroelements in the intoxicated drink only partially covers the body’s daily needs. During the diet, in addition to beer, you are allowed to consume cereals, for example, oatmeal or buckwheat, lean fish, beef, mainly boiled, baked or steamed.
The beer diet for weight loss is not suitable for everyone. Her limited diet can provoke a breakdown, which will negatively affect her emotional and physical state. In addition, most diets are aimed at detoxifying the body, while beer, on the contrary, loads it with toxic substances and other by-products that put a tremendous burden on the liver.
The duration of the program is 1 week. During this time, the average person loses about 4 extra pounds. There are unloading techniques that last several weeks, but they have a negative impact on health. The frequency of the beer diet should not exceed 1 time per month. Before starting this diet program for weight loss, it is recommended to consult a specialist.
Recommendations from nutritionists
When following a diet, consider the following useful recommendations:
- Beer should be used only natural and high quality. It must be a “live” product, free from various artificial additives.
- It should be cold, so store it on the top shelves of the refrigerator.
- When compiling your daily diet, keep in mind that different types of foamy drink may have different calorie content.
- If you feel unwell during the process, stop following this regimen and consult a specialist.
Basic principles of the diet
In order for weight loss to be as effective as possible, you must adhere to the following nutritional principles of the beer diet throughout the week:
- drink no more than 1 liter of beer per day;
- drink the drink very chilled;
- eat no more than 100 g of permitted foods per day (except for fruit and vegetable days);
- completely eliminate salt, sugar, carbonated and alcoholic drinks (except beer);
- eat lean meat, fish, seafood, cereals as a side dish, non-starchy fruits, vegetables, a little vegetable oil (for dressing salads);
- give up high-calorie snacks;
- drink 1.5-2 liters of pure still water per day;
- no more than twice a week (optional) drink a cup of unsweetened coffee and eat 10 g of dark chocolate;
- repeat the weekly course of the dietary program no more than once a month.
The recommendation to drink a foamy drink cold is associated with the human body’s ability to heat all incoming food and liquid to body temperature before starting the digestion process. This little trick ensures passive energy consumption. The human body spends about 40 kcal to bring cold beer to body temperature, and weight loss occurs faster.
Authorized Products
As mentioned earlier, the beer diet is meager. For the purpose of effective weight loss, throughout the entire diet program, you can only consume foods and drinks presented in the following list:
- Fruits: apple, peach, tangerine, pomegranate.
- Cereals and porridges: buckwheat porridge in water, crumbly buckwheat groats (kernels), oatmeal in water, boiled wild rice.
- Meat: boiled beef, beef tenderloin, rabbit.
- Poultry: boiled, baked chicken, turkey.
- Fish: boiled bream, sardines, trout, steamed salmon.
- Beer: guinness, stella artois, Zhiguli, porter, light 1.8%, light live, dark.
Prohibited Products
Three main ingredients are completely prohibited during the beer diet: salt, sugar, fats of various origins. It is recommended to exclude unhealthy high-calorie foods from your diet. For a week, you need to completely remove products from the following categories:
- any snacks;
- fast food (french fries, hamburgers), street food;
- flour, confectionery products;
- fried foods;
- store-bought sweets;
- any drinks (except pure water, beer);
- smoked meats;
- starchy vegetables and fruits.
To achieve maximum results in losing weight, it is recommended to completely exclude products from the list above. Below is a more detailed list of prohibited foods during the beer diet:
- Fruits: bananas, grapes.
- Nuts and dried fruits: roasted chestnuts, cashews, pistachios.
- Snacks: potato chips, banana chips, salty and sweet popcorn, roasted sunflower seeds.
- Flour and pasta products: egg pasta, noodles, pancakes, dumplings, white bread.
- Confectionery: chocolates, marmalade, cookies, cakes, ice cream.
- Cheeses and cottage cheese: Adyghe cheese, feta cheese (made from sheep's milk), homemade cottage cheese, blue cheese.
- Meat products: pork, fried cutlets, basturma.
- Sausages: boiled, raw smoked sausage, frankfurters, small sausages.
- Fish and seafood: canned food, hot smoked herring, smoked mackerel, salted sprat.
- Alcoholic drinks: red dessert wine, cognac, vodka.
- Non-alcoholic drinks: cola, coffee latte, lemonade, Fanta, hibiscus tea, black tea with lemon and sugar.
Menu for the week
An important condition of the beer diet program is a strict restriction in the consumption of food and the intoxicating drink itself. It is better to opt not for canned beer, but for live, natural beer. It is recommended to use dark rather than light varieties, since they contain more vitamins and microelements. It is not advisable to drink beer at night, as the drink has a mild diuretic effect. Sample beer diet menu for a week:
- Monday: 1 liter of dark beer, low or non-alcoholic (it is allowed to drink so-called diet beer) + 100 g of buckwheat (kernels) in water.
- Tuesday: 1 liter of beer + 100 g of boiled chicken fillet.
- Wednesday: 1 liter of beer + 100 g of boiled or steamed fish.
- Thursday: 1 liter of beer + 100 g of boiled beef.
- Friday: 1 liter of beer + unlimited non-starchy fruits or vegetables.
- Saturday: 1.5 liters of beer.
- Sunday: 1.5-2 liters of beer.
You can’t abruptly leave the diet program on beer. A quick return to your usual eating style can trigger rapid weight gain. It is better to gradually increase the amount of food consumed, adding foods from the prohibited list, if necessary. To maintain the results of weight loss, it is recommended to spend a fasting day on kefir or homemade yogurt without fillers once a week.
Contraindications for the diet
Those losing weight recognize the effectiveness of the beer diet, but among them there are also ardent opponents of this method of losing weight. Many doctors are categorically against the use of a dietary program by men, due to the high content of phytoestrogens in beer. They cause hormonal changes in the male body, which can lead to the formation of folds on the stomach and thighs that are unusual for a man’s body. Beer is contraindicated for weight loss if:
- alcoholism;
- heart diseases;
- disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
- diseases of the genitourinary system;
- weakened body;
- taking medications that are incompatible with alcohol;
- pregnancy;
- lactation;
- persons under 21 years of age.
Drinking and diet therapy
Medical nutrition is prescribed to people with certain diseases of internal organs. For example, it is used for diseases of the stomach, liver, kidneys, heart, and obesity. No disease will become easier if a person washes down healthy porridge with alcohol. From this we can conclude that alcohol and a therapeutic diet are absolutely incompatible concepts.
There can be no exceptions here.
Therefore, if you are treating any acute or chronic illness, completely stop drinking alcohol. This way you will be able to reach the stage of long-term remission much faster.