Can beer help you lose weight? Add wheat flavor to dishes and reduce greasiness

Due to the high temperatures in recent days, Taiwan has almost become a hot roasted sweet potato. At this time, many people like to have a glass of beer. The bubbles produced by the carbon dioxide bring a refreshing feeling to the whole body, or suppress the appetite through the feeling of fullness. However, canned beer contains high alcohol and calories, which can easily lead to obesity. Nutritionists suggest that people who like the malt flavor of beer may add beer to their dishes to reduce alcohol intake while still being able to taste the unique flavor of the food.

Beer is known as "liquid bread" and contains a variety of nutrients. Many people believe that it can help lose weight. (Photography by Jiang Minjun)

Calories in a can of beer = half a bowl of rice. Men can drink 2 cans a day, and women can drink 1 can.

Beer is known as "liquid bread". In addition to alcohol, its main ingredients include sugars, proteins, and a small amount of water-soluble B vitamins and minerals. The British Daily Mail once quoted the views of Dr. Stephen Dominic of the Austrian Meier Health Center, saying that drinking beer can increase bile secretion and help the body digest greasy food; and the music monster godmother Lady Gaga also revealed that she relied on drinking beer to lose weight.

However, Tu Yuqing, a nutritionist at Miaoli Daqian General Hospital, said that based on a nutritional point of view, there is currently no data showing that drinking beer can help lose weight. According to data from Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation, a can of Taiwan Beer has 155 calories, while a can of the recently popular canned fruit beer has about 130 to 140 calories, which is equivalent to 1/2 bowl of white rice. If you drink beer as water, be careful that you may gain weight instead of losing weight. The above-mentioned canned beer has a capacity of about 330c.c. per can.

The key ingredient of beer currently on the market that is claimed to help with weight loss is brewer's yeast, which is believed to have the effect of strengthening the stomach and intestines and reducing fat without reducing nutrition. However, the brewer's yeast added during the beer production process, after being sterilized and other processing, the amount of brewer's yeast contained becomes very small and has little health benefits.

Commercially available beer has undergone sterilization and other processing, which reduces the amount of yeast beer and greatly reduces its health benefits. Excessive intake of alcohol can easily lead to obesity.

Alcohol inhibits the oxidation of fatty acids, causing fat to accumulate in the body, leading to diseases such as obesity, fatty liver and hyperlipidemia. Some fruit beers currently on the market contain high fructose syrup. Fructose will cause the body to synthesize triglycerides and form body fat, which is more likely to cause obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and liver disease. If you really can't resist the desire to drink beer to cool off in the summer, adult men should not drink more than 2 cans a day, and girls should not drink more than 1 can. Excessive drinking every day will still cause obesity.

Beer is more flavorful than drinking it alone

Compared to drinking from a toast, nutritionist Tu Yuqing believes that beer can also be used in cooking. Adding it to meat and other foods for stewing or making soup can not only evaporate the alcohol, but also retain the unique malt aroma and sweetness in the dishes, increase the flavor, and reduce the amount of seasoning used. Compared with the general high-oil and high-sodium stir-fried side dishes with beer, beer dishes are less burdened by alcohol.

【Beer braised beef short ribs】

• Ingredients: 600g boneless beef ribs, 200g onion, 200g carrot, 200g white radish, 1 can of beer.

• Seasoning: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp water.

• practice:

  1. Slice onion; dice red and white radish; blanch boneless beef ribs and dice; mix cornstarch with water to make cornstarch water, set aside.

  2. Add a little salad oil to the pot, add onion slices after the oil is hot and stir-fry until fragrant, then add red and white radish cubes and boneless beef ribs and stir-fry together, then add beer. After the ingredients are boiled, cover the pot tightly and simmer on low heat for 30 to 40 minutes.

  3. Finally, open the lid of the pot, add seasonings, and thicken with cornstarch water.

Stewing beer in dishes not only retains the unique malt flavor and sweet taste, but also has less health burden than general high-fat and high-sodium side dishes.

【Beer Chicken Soup】

• Ingredients: 2 chicken legs, 1/2 onion, 30g carrot, 1 shallot, 10g ginger, 1 can of beer, 300cc water.

• Seasoning: 1 tablespoon sesame oil, a little white pepper, a little salt.

• practice:

  1. Cut the chicken legs into large pieces and set aside.

  2. Wash and slice carrots and ginger; wash and cut green onions into sections; wash and cut onions into shreds for later use.

  3. Heat oil in a pan, add diced chicken thighs, and fry over medium heat until golden brown.

  4. Add all the ingredients from step 2 and all the seasonings into the pot and continue to stir-fry for about 1 minute, then pour in the beer and water.

  5. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

【】We remind you that excessive drinking is harmful to your health. Minors are not allowed to drink. Do not drink and drive, and do not drive after drinking.