When you’re trying to drop the pounds, it can seem safe to assume that you’ll need to avoid – or ban – certain foods and drinks that you happen to love. That massive slice of cheesecake is a definite no-no, but what about your favorite alcoholic beverage? Can you use beer to lose weight?
That may sound like a silly question, but researchers looked into whether people could drink beer to lose weight and it’s making many headlines. Before you head out to grab a case, though, it’s important for you to understand what the researchers actually found. Those popular headlines may not be suggesting precisely the same thing as the findings from the research.
It’s already known that there are certain limited health benefits to drinking a pint of your favorite brew. It may be high in calories, but it may also help to add to bone strength, kidney stone prevention, and it may function as digestive support.
More recently, scientists discovered that a flavonoid in hops, called xanthohumol, may assist in weight loss. Hops is one of the main ingredients of beer, which is what has caused the media to leap onto the beer diet bandwagon. Xanthohumol may also help to reduce blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels, both of which are good for weight loss.
Still, it’s very important to recognize the difference between a flavonoid of hops and an actual glass of beer. According to the lead author of the study, an Oregon State University research assistant professor named Cristobal Miranda, beer may contain hops, but the amount of xanthohumol in the average bottle is far too low to make a difference to weight loss. One pint of IPA contains only a tiny amount of the flavonoid: 0.0757 mg.
Based on the results published in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics journal, that would mean that a dieter would need to chug down 3,500 pints of the ale every single day in order to obtain enough xanthohumol to make a difference. Since that amount would not only be impossible to consume, but even a fraction of it would be deadly, this means that despite what headlines may be telling you, you won’t be able to drink beer to lose weight.
Still, this information can still be useful, as it might provide scientists with the data they need to continue studying the impact of xanthohumol so that it may one day be converted into an effective diet pill if it is conclusively determined to be both helpful and safe to use.