Does or does not alcohol contribute to weight gain? That is the question. As with most weighty and ponderific questions, it all depends on who you ask. We all think we know at least a dozen people with a circus freak belly bulge attached to the front of their thin frame.

But did this anomaly come from drinking alcohol? Maybe it was a chronically bad diet and inactivity instead, and that beer can he always held was naught but window dressing.

Let’s take a look at some scientific medical research ‘cause there seems to be plenty of it on the subject and who among us doesn’t like to curl up on the couch with a nice study on alcohol and a good, stiff drink?

Here’s what the research says on the con side: alcohol contains calories but does NOT contribute to weight gain. Many studies even record a small weight reduction in women. Now before everyone who has been drinking in moderation goes out and becomes a raging alcoholic, let’s take a closer look.

One group of scientists tells us why they think alcohol doesn’t lead to weight gain:

1. alcohol appear to increase metabolic rate significantly, causing more calories to be burned rather than stored as fat
2. sugar consumption seems to decrease as consumption of alcohol increases
3. alcohol contains no fat, no cholesterol and very little sodium (why, it’s practically a health drink!)

This opinion is based on several studies of thousands of people around the world – some of the studies including as many as 140,000 subjects.

But…over here in the other corner, weighing in at a solid 7,491 pixels is the University of Rochester’s Health Promotion Office. The pro side, if you will. They say that the beer belly phenomenon does exist but is not attributed to excess alcohol calories being stored as fat. Instead, they blame alcohol’s more complex effect on the body’s metabolism. In simple terms, alcohol reduces the amount of fat the body burns for energy.

It goes like this:
1. a small portion of alcohol consumed is converted into fat
2. the liver converts the rest of the alcohol (the majority) into acetate
3. acetate is released into the blood stream, and replaces fat as a source of fuel

Bottom line, the result of drinking high-calorie alcoholic drinks is the body storing excessive unburned fat calories, often in the form of a beer belly.

Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, definitely no, yes but because of that and not this.

The debate goes on eternally, as good debates tend to do. So what to take away from all this research, opinion, and counter-opinion?

I don’t mean to inject too much common sense into the discussion but how about if we all knew which were the best and worst for calories in different categories, and then we did our best to consume more of the former than the latter. I know, it’s a crazy idea…

BEER:
Best – non-alcoholic or light
Worst – strong or stout, try the Stout from Alaskan Brew Co. to really rack up the calories

MIXED DRINK:
Best – Bacardi Black Cherry, low carb
Worst – Henry’s Hard Lemonade (even higher than the stout beer)

SPIRITS & LIQUOR (these pack a bunch of calories into tiny shots):
Best – stick with a Skinny Pina Colada, Bourbon, or Cinzano Dry Vermouth
Worst – Godiva White Chocolate Liquor

COCKTAILS:
Best – Bourbon / Diet Soda, Gin Rickey, Virgin Mary
Worst – Long Island Iced Tea, Frozen Margarita

WINES:
Best – Arbor Mist, Chablis, Fre
Worst – Port (ruby or white, Madeira, Muscatel

Click here for a comprehensive list of alcohol calories.

There. Now you have some idea of how to select your alcohol if, for some odd reason, you are one of the yet to be discovered class of drinkers concerned with calories. Go forth and imbibe, but don’t drive.

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