Could the 'Beer Belly' be a Myth? Fermented Falsity

Whether you beefed up in college at lots of frat parties or you just enjoy a Fosters every other day, scientists debunk the myth on "beer bellies." Turns out, in fact, that inches added to your waist-line are just as likely to come from cheezburgers, Vodka or ice cream, as they are from beer.

"The beer belly is a complete myth. The main source of calories in any alcoholic beverage is alcohol. ...There's nothing magical about the alcohol in beer, it's just alcohol," said Charles Bamforth, via Popular Science, a professor of food science and technology at the University of California Davis, as well as an Anheuser-Busch endowed professor of brewing science.

According to Dr. Aliyah Sohani, the myth might stem from the notion that beer drinkers consume more calories. "You are drinking it in more quantities than wine or liquor, so you tend to have more caloric intake. You are talking about a difference between several hundred calories a night and a couple hundred," Sohani said, via the article.

It's true that the higher quantities of alcoholic beverages tend to have more calories. Let's take a direct look at the calories from various alcohols.

According to the experts, non-alcoholic beer and regular beer contain approximately 150 calories per 12 ounces. (And light beer shaves off about 50 calories per 12 ounces.)

Sweet wines can almost have twice as many calories as one beer for just 5 ounces, while dry ones tend to be around the 100 calorie level.

Hard alcohol, such as 90 proof vodka, typically contains 110 calories for 1.5 ounces. The higher the proof, the higher the calorie content in most cases.

In the end, researchers note that it's important to use common sense when consuming alcoholic beverages-obviously for safety reasons but, more to the point, so you don't get fat.

As alcoholic beverages of any kind can tend to cause bloating as well as the addition of empty calories to your diet, moderation is always a positive. Or, at least we think so.