Here’s a prime example of a woman who’s gone beyond her level of nutritional expertise. Claiming to be the “Director of Nutrition” at eDiets.com. Seems like a nice enough person, wouldn’t mind having a beer or two with her, but then she opens her mouth and starts talking about beer, and it becomes easy to see that she doesn’t know a thing about beer.

Just some highlights that I’ve noted and then you can watch and catch these mistakes and more as she perks her way through her video presentation.

*  “The beers nowadays range from 65 calories to all the way up.”  Up to what? 500 calories? 5,000? Notice, when you don’t know the caloric value of various beers, that’s when the general claim and sweep of the hand comes in.

*  “The type of beer you’re consuming depends on the calories.” Rubbish. I can list dozens of beers, lagers through ales, that contain the same amount of calories. You might also notice when people know nothing about beer they mention “…ales or stouts, lagers or light beers” just throwing in styles, but not understanding the real differences between them.

*  “Usually the darker the beer, the higher the calories.” Lord help me. This is one of the dumbest statements made by people with no real knowledge of beer. Now if she had said something like “Usually the higher the alcohol content, the higher the calories,” I might have agreed, but color has nothing to do with calorie content. You might notice that she also attributes color to carb content too. Remember, this is the Director of Nutrition at eDiets.com.

*  Notice how she slips in the wonders of wine, but blames overeating with beer consumption. I guess if you drink wine, you simply want to get up a run around the block a few times. If you drink beer, it’s time to call for an 18″ inch pizza and never get off the couch.

Dr. Curtis Ellison spoke at a conference on a panel called, “Beer: To Your Health!,” held by the Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy at the University of Maryland-College Park. This conference reviewed the science on health benefits of moderate beer and alcohol consumption and the challenges of communicating a balanced message to the public.

Brewed from barley, malt and other grains, some studies suggest that beer may have heart-healthy benefits and that older adults who consume moderate amounts of alcohol may have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, osteoporosis – and maybe even obesity.

The key is moderation. U.S. dietary guidelines define “moderation” as one drink per day for women, and two for men. Experts say that for those who choose to drink, alcohol should be consumed with food – and that the total number of alcoholic drinks should not be averaged out for the week, a question that every “Drive Time” DJ asks me during radio interviews.

Brewers, distributors…send me a sample or two along with some tech specs and I’ll give you a FREE plug for your product and help answer the question your customers often have…”What’s in my beer?” I’ve got a laundry list of customers who want nutritional info for their usual beers but some brewers can’t seem to see this void. Let’s fill the beer nutritional information gap together. Maybe you can’t talk about the calories in your beer, but I can. I don’t have to conform to TTB requirements like you. Let me help you help yourselves and your customers.

RESS RELEASES
Record-Breaking Alcohol Tax Increase Won’t Win Olympics

For Immediate Release – 5/21/2009
Contact: Public Affairs
Telephone: 202-682-8840

Proposed Tax Hike Would Cost 4,500 Hospitality Jobs

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois State Senate last night passed a spending package including a 90% increase in the state excise tax on alcohol, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States which blasted the proposal as a job-killing tax on the hospitality industry at a time when the state is trying to attract global tourists.

“Hamstringing the hospitality industry with increased alcohol taxes will cost jobs and hurt tourism throughout the state – not to mention punish the very same businesses the state must lean on for a serious Olympic bid,” said Council Vice President Dale Szyndrowski. “This tax will actually make Chicago’s spirits tax rate 78% higher even than the rate in New York City,” he said, noting that such an increase will drive tourists and business travelers into nearby Wisconsin and Indiana.

Under an amendment to House Bill 255, the current excise tax on spirits in Illinois would increase from $4.50/gallon to $8.55/gallon – a 90% increase. The legislation passed the Senate last night and is currently under consideration in the House.

Szyndrowski stated that the Illinois hospitality industry is already struggling, citing over 18,700 hospitality jobs lost in the past year alone due to the recession. He pointed to an economic analysis which showed that the proposed tax increase would cause Illinois retailers to lose an estimated $225 million in retail sales and a loss of another 4,500 hospitality sector jobs across the state. The analysis also shows that in the year following the July 1999 tax increase ($2.00/gallon to $4.50/gallon) spirits volumes actually declined by approximately 13%.

“Policymakers need to understand that a tax on alcohol hurts the entire hospitality industry,” he said. “Forcing thousands of waiters, waitresses, bartenders and busboys into the unemployment line is no way to improve the state economy.”

Sound like a familiar statement?

“One ounce of alcohol contains…”

The problem with this premise is simple to swipe away at when you use actual facts, and not emotionalism when trying dissuade dieters from incorporating a few drinks into any diet;

* When you consume the standard recommended sized serving of wine, you’ll find a 5-ounce glass in front of you.
* Your typical golden-colored American style pilsner is served as a recommended 12-ounce serving.
* The distilled products that we consume are measured at 1.5 ounces.

Now what part of these products, in these various serving sizes are actually alcohol?

Imagine a serving of beer; it might be a typical American pilsner, coming in a 5% alcohol by volume. Maybe it’s chilly out today and you’ve decided to crack open a barley wine, a beer of decidedly higher alcohol by volume (abv) than, let’s say, a Budweiser. For shits and grins, I’ll say that the barley wine contains 10% abv.

A 5-ounce serving of red wine comes in at 12 to 14% abv, whites at a shade less.

An 80 proof vodka, 80 proof being somewhat standard with distilled products (vodka, gin, whiskey, whisky, Scotch, tequila, etc.). Of course there are the exceptions. Smirnoff Blue Label at 100 proof. Without nothing more than a mental calculation, we can calculate the true alcoholic content of distilled products as half that of the proof. In other words, an 80 proof booze contains 40 percent alcohol mixed with 60 percent distilled water. A 100 proof product contains 50 percent ethyl alcohol and 50 percent distilled water.

But at no time do we run across anything consisting of 100 percent pure alcohol (I’m not talking pure grain alcohol since most drinkers have never seen it nor been served it at their favorite watering holes.

So what’s with this stupid declaration by every Internet “dietitian,” “holistic guide” or “nutritionist” on the WWW who pulls out the “One ounce of alcohol contains…” argument? It’s simply a red herring, that has nothing to do with real world events and triggers in my head that I’m dealing with someone who really doesn’t know the world of spirits as I, and certainly many of you do.

This brings us the drink equivalencies, an attempt by the feds, and someone reluctantly be the drink industry, to add a bit of consistency to the argument of which product is stronger or weaker in alcohol. There’s actually a lot of historical baggage here, began by the brewers during the 1800s to maintain beer’s self-created reputation as “the drink of moderation,” and they’ve fought (and still do) the fact that their “benign” beer has actually the same amount of “kick” as the “hard stuff” when served at these equivalent serving sizes.

So what is the alcohol equivalent of 12-ounces of beer, 5-ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces (a “jigger”) of a distilled product? Approximately 0.6 ounces of alcohol in each. Period.

So why throw up 1-ounce of alcohol in the argument? Once again, I say it’s because these “experts” really don’t know what they’re talking about. For the sake of argument, however, let’s try to extrapolate that 0.6 ounce from a serving of beer, wine or booze and try to reach a conclusion on caloric values.

You can’t, at least in terms of beer and wine. After the simple sugar maltose is disposed of during fermentation of beer and fructose in wine, there’s still a myriad of complex sugars and other inert ingredients that have to be considered. Even the type of yeast has to be considered. Some yeasts display high attenuation, that is, they continue to work as hard as possible on sugars during fermentation. The more sugar they consume, the higher they alcohol achieved, leaving less unfermented sugars behind. Think of “dry” beers, higher in alcohol and distinguished for their lack of aftertaste. A low attenuating yeast will leave a lower alcohol product, but one richer with aftertaste.

But please, don’t let me leave you with facts when bullshit emotionalism is what sells the evils of booze. Here’s an excellent article on the website “Alcohol Problems & Solutions” titled Alcohol Use and Abuse: How to “Lie” with Statistics.

More on alcohol equivalencies.

Standard Drinks Model: A Teaching Tool. This model has been favorably reviewed by the Nutrition Educators for Health Professionals of the American Diabetic Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation.

REMEMBER: MODERATION, NOT DEPRIVATION!

Illinois legislators are proposing a liquor tax that could increase the next drink you purchase in Illinois by $1.             

Contact Your Illinois Senator TODAY!   http://www.ilga.gov/senate/

Tell them NOT to stick it to you!!

Too much misinformation about alcohol is being repeated in diet books and popular websites for carb counters and diabetics,” says book author Bob Skilnik. The Chicagoland writer argues that the effects of alcohol and its relationship to carbohydrate control are usually portrayed by the media in a misleading or incorrect manner. His latest drink reference book lists the nutritional values of over 2,000 worldwide beers, with added bonus of including Weight Watchers POINTS. “Seems that every time a new low-carbohydrate diet book comes out or a website about nutrition comes on line, there’s usually a section that deals with alcohol and its effects on blood sugar or the metabolization of carbohydrates, and that information is usually wrong.

Remember The South Beach Diet with its condemnation of beer because of its supposed maltose sugar content? After Anheuser-Busch challenged that misinformation, Dr. Agatston stopped his “no-beer” mantra, even suggesting an A-B Michelob Ultra while on his popular diet. Agatston’s dreaded “maltose” is a simple sugar that is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.

I think its time to challenge some other bits of misinformation that keep on popping up in the media about alcohol and nutrition.

1. Pet Peeve #1…The liver does not metabolize alcohol into sugar. There are more postings on the Internet from “dieticians” and “nutritionists” that begin with this clap-trap. On the contrary, most people will experience a dip in their blood sugar (glucose) levels when consuming alcohol. Alcohol is eventually broken down by the liver into acetate, and finally into carbon dioxide and water—not sugar.

2.Non-alcohol beers do not contain less carbohydrates than regular-brewed beers. In fact, virtually are all higher in carbs than a typical beer, some almost double in carbohydrate content. Unfortunately, there are too many websites that incorrectly claim that NA beers are both alcohol-free and low in carbohydrates.

3. The glycemic index (GI) of beer, wine, and distilled products is zero. The urban legend that alcoholic beverages have high GIs, has been floating around the diet book circuit for years. If you’re on any type of diet or practice a lifestyle that monitors the glycemic index or gycemic load of food and drink, you can still enjoy a libation or two.

4. There are carbohydrates in all wines, even the driest styles, despite what some wine appreciation websites might tell you. The only alcoholic beverages that can possibly have a zero-carb content are distilled products. Fermentation will always leave some residual sugar behind in the form of carbs.

5. There is no sugar in rum. Alcohol is derived from high-carbohydrate fermentables such as sugar, molasses, potatoes, or various grains. If you understand the processes of fermentation and distillation, you’ll know that the end result of distillation is ethyl alcohol, a zero-carb liquid.

Before anyone dismisses this story out of hand, keep in mind (as does the author) that the premise centers around drinking in moderation. Everytime a beer/health/nutrition issue comes up, there’s always some “authority” who uses the weak logic of extending beer consumption to the very illogical conclusion; “Well if 2 beers are OK, does that mean a case of beer is even better? Of course not…” and reveals themselves as to what they’re really all about; neo-prohibitionism.

I report. You decide.
*********

From The Fitness Black Book Site;
***************

Is it possible that you can burn fat at a quicker rate and increase muscle tone by drinking a few beers per day? Beer lovers rejoice…a recent study has some interesting findings!

Lyle Mcdonald, an authority on fat loss, recently spoke about a paper that talks about alcohol consumption in people who are consuming low calories throughout the day…

MORE

Ah, the kind of web posting I really enjoy reading. I don’t agree with all of this below (the EverClear suggestion, for instance) , but you folks can use what you think is appropriate to your needs. There’s a couple of important thing to understand if you decide to drink beer, wine or booze and want to build muscle and lose weight;

1.) Moderation. As the linked article points out, moderation…not deprivation, is an important factor.

2.) I just finished reading a couple of posts over at BeerAdvocate.com about nutritional values in beer. The arguments are the typical ones; no one wants to drink low-calorie/carb beers; they want to enjoy craft beers. Fine, but you can’t slam a sixer and expect weight loss. M-o-d-e-r-a-t-i-o-n is the key.

Then you have the “I run off my beer calories” crowd. Admirable, but let me ask you this; If you don’t know how many calories or carbs are in your favorite craft beers, how do you know how long of a run you need? How do you know that you really burned off those calories? There’s a big hole in this argument that can be closed by picking up a copy of “Does My Butt Look Big In This Beer?  Nutritional Values Of Over 2,000 Worldwide Beers.”

You are now probably aware that drinking more than 1-2 drinks of alcohol (in any form) per day is NOT good for you. Here’s why:

* Body treats it like estrogen, which is your enemy

* Delays fat loss.

* Filled with empty calories.

* Spoils the quality of sleep.

* Dehydrates you (main cause of hangovers)

* Surely bad for your liver.

My professional recommendation: Don’t drink at all if you want to achieve ultimate muscle gains and get lose as much fat as possible.

Though let’s accept it. This is the real world, and you most likely to drink as much as the next guy (the younger you are the more you probably like to drink). Thus here’s some tips to keep your muscle building and fat loss on progress when you opt to “indulge”:

Drink Lots of Water

Loads of the bad stuff that comes from drinking can be restrained with water consumption. Alcohol dehydrates you, therefore drink plenty of water before, during (if possible) and certainly before hitting the sack. Moreover, alcohol helps your body do away with great amount of toxins you just doused it with in the form of alcohol.

Avoid Sugary mixers

Refrain from sugary mixers in your hard alcohol. Consuming sugar while drinking alcohol is the worse thing you can do for fat gain.

Do away with carbs

If you’re consuming alcohol don’t eat carbs before, during or after. In a nutshell: The carbs get turned to fat much easier because your body is trying to process the alcohol. Also, Protein will stay with you longer so you won’t eat as much and the higher thermic rate makes it less likely to promote fat gain.

Stick to the 1-2 drinks a day during weekdays

There’s already enough evidence to suggest that 1-3 drinks a day is good for you. If you enjoy drinking a beer or two a day or glasses of wine or whatever, don’t worry about it. Try not to binge EVERY night. If you’re going to binge

Drink hard only two times a week.

Such as Friday and and Saturday, or something like that. Here’s what to do: Don’t eat plenty during the day if you’re going to whoop it up that night. After that make sure you get some good protein into your system to help protect your stomach. In addition, some foods high in fiber like beans is good as well. It will remain with you and help you feel fuller, perhaps absorb some toxins-definitely help flush them out the next day when you “eliminate”.

Workout 2-3 hours before you whoop it up

Since your muscles get used up of glycogen after you exercise doing this might make it easier for your body to turn even more of the empty calories you take in later on that night into muscle, in place of fat.

Don’t eat too much once you get drunk

Most people drink till they’re really drunk, then get hungry and decide to eat a bunch of crap food. This is NOT going to help. Follow the protein tip above, and drink more water to help you feel full.

Have fun playing beer pong or other games

You might actually burn 20-30 calories in a “Vigorous” game of beer pong. You’ll probably drink more though as a result. My advice: Drink less to make your aim better – so you drink less during the game (because you’re winning) which overall leads to less drinking! Play “strip” versions of these games for even more fun.

Be disciplined if you just want to get drunk

It’s NOT healthy (emotionally, mentally OR physically) to drink to “get drunk” but I realize this is why most people do it. They drink because they think it makes them more confident, more brave, or more well liked. That’s all bullsh*t, you really need to get your confidence issues handled, but I realize most people still do it.

Thus if you’re drinking for “effect” then remember: be disciplined. Get a high alcohol spirit like Everclear or 151, cut it with ice and water, or do a couple shots, you’ll get drunk faster. And you won’t have to drink as much. (at least it’s better than drinking 36 beers right?)

I can’t believe I’m giving this advice, but I know people will still do it, so just be “efficient” about it and maybe it’ll help you not to go overboard next time.

Go for low-fat beers and wines

Light beers are lowest. Dark stouts (like Guinness!) are next. Followed by the rest. Red wines are lower in calories (and contain more resveratrol), followed by the rest.

Things to do when you’re hangover:

Here’s some tips if you might be hangover in the morning:

* Keep away from NSAID’s such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and all that because blended with the alcohol it is extremely bad for your liver and stomach, and so on…

* Drink water and Gatorade to replenish electrolytes, etc…

* Take multivitamins/multi-mineral supplements to replenish more…

* Eat eggs, bacon and the like. They are great sources of protein and it’s good for you!

* Workout modestly to sweat a few impurities out and make sure you constantly drink water…

* Get some shuteye…

You know you shouldn’t but then if you do

Decide to “over indulge” you should at least follow the guidelines I’ve set out here. The real issue you should address is:

“why do I feel the need to drink so much?”

You’ll most likely realize that it’s an issue with your self confidence not being able to say “no” to your group of friends or trying to “Fit in” or some other such nonsense. Or you don’t like reality and you’re just trying to escape from it by getting trashed. None of these things are good for your health and you need to get these issues handled before you do some damage.