Carbohydrates in beer

“Beer makes you fat” – this wisdom or the so-called “beer belly” are indications that a high beer consumption is not exactly beneficial to the line. But what is this effect based on? A 0.33 liter bottle of beer contains about 10.3 grams of carbohydrates, depending on the type and brand.

This makes sense when you consider that beer is made from grain. The 10.3 grams of carbohydrates in turn have a calorific value of 42 kilocalories. However, the total calorific value of the 0.33 liters of beer is about 150 kilocalories.

This means that the carbohydrates make up less than a third of the calorific value of beer and the majority is represented by the calorific value of the alcohol itself – which, strictly speaking, also belongs to the class of carbohydrates in the chemical sense. A closer look at the carbohydrates in beer shows that they are mainly sugar alcohols. One of them is sorbitol, also known as food additive E420.

Although it is only present in beer in the milligram range and therefore does not contribute significantly to the calorific value of beer, it can cause diarrhea if beer consumption is high. In addition, beer mainly contains the sugar alcohol mannitol (E421), as well as glucose (dextrose), fructose (fruit sugar) and maltose (malt sugar). If you do not want to do without beer, but want to keep your carbohydrate consumption low, you can fall back on diet beer.

During the production of these beers, the usable carbohydrates are almost completely fermented, which is reflected in a significantly lower content of carbohydrates and fewer calories. Generally speaking, beer can actually make you fat if consumed in large quantities. However, this is not so much due to the carbohydrates it contains, but rather to the high caloric value of the alcohol it contains.

There are even recommendations to supplement carbohydrate-containing food when drinking beer. This is based on the observation that alcohol consumption can lead to hypoglycaemia, which one wants to prevent with the intake of carbohydrates. This hypoglycaemia can occur because the “adjuvant” NAD is needed for gluconeogenesis, i.e. the new formation of sugar in the liver, as well as for the breakdown of alcohol. If the liver is busy breaking down the alcohol, its capacity is no longer sufficient for the constant production of new glucose, which lowers the blood sugar level. However, this phenomenon is subject to strong individual fluctuations and mainly affects diabetics in whom blood sugar regulation is impaired.