# No Carb Beer?



## tonyt (12/8/12)

Hi all, 
A mate of mine has had some weight problems and drinks this. It claims no carbs. Excuse my ignorance but how the hell can you make a "no" carb beer.
Cheers


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## manticle (12/8/12)

Did your mate try jogging?

Not sure you can claim NO carb but maybe all residual can be stripped with enzymes. Do you have a link to said product?

Just drinking low or no carb beer in and of itself won't make you unfat. Drinking normal carb beer, in and of itself won't make you fat.


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## Nick JD (12/8/12)

Ethanol is not a carbohydrate. It's an alcohol.

There's no such thing as zero carb beer, because it would no longer be beer, but you could use enzymes to make it pretty close to being ethanol in fizzy water. 

Weight problems? Drink water. Ethanol has almost the calories of fat - so when you drink a liter of vodka, you've drunk a cup of fat.


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## manticle (12/8/12)

manticle said:


> Do you have a link to said product?



Sorry, just realised said beer is in the subtitle of the thread - doesn't come up when you click 'all latest threads'.

http://burleighbrewing.com.au/beers/bighead/


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## tonyt (12/8/12)

manticle said:


> Did your mate try jogging?
> 
> Not sure you can claim NO carb but maybe all residual can be stripped with enzymes. Do you have a link to said product?
> 
> Just drinking low or no carb beer in and of itself won't make you unfat. Drinking normal carb beer, in and of itself won't make you fat.


No he cant run or walk atm, he got a knee replacement, and being overweight didn't do him any favours. Anyhow, Dan murphys have it. I googled it, and makers do claim zero carbs. He loves his beer so i guess if it makes him happy drinking it, no harm. Btw, doc told him to lose 60 kg or say goodbye to "any carb" beer,
Cheers


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## manticle (12/8/12)

The same marketing crap also claims they don't use any chemicals in their beer which is a ridiculous statement. Which brewery doesn't use H2O in their beer for a start?

Anyway best of luck to your friend. I tried a Black Giraffe yonks ago after crawling through 6 inches of thick mud and it tasted OK (not brilliant, not awful) so i'll happily have a crack at various ones if I see them.

If he really needs to lose weight for survival, he maybe should try a no alc diet for 3-6 months and get whatever exercise he is able to do.

Also cut out refined/processed foods and eat lean meats (including fish) and fresh fruit and vegetables. Drink water and freshly squeezed juices.

When the weight is reduced significantly - drink normal beer and leave wine and spirits alone until good habits and good weight range have been achieved


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## doon (12/8/12)

its not carbs that make you fat its calories. People are just to damn stupid to realise this so buy "low carb" beer which has almost the same amount of calories as normal beer. your mate needs to stop drinking as manticle said for an extended period, do any kind of exercise he can and eat healthy foods. 

drinking no carb beer and sitting on your arse isnt going to do anything


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## QldKev (12/8/12)

Nick JD said:


> Ethanol is not a carbohydrate. It's an alcohol.
> 
> There's no such thing as zero carb beer, because it would no longer be beer, but you could use enzymes to make it pretty close to being ethanol in fizzy water.
> 
> Weight problems? Drink water. Ethanol has almost the calories of fat - so when you drink a liter of vodka, you've drunk a cup of fat.




Could not have said it better myself, 

Although I'll add that ALL main beers are actually low carb. Compare ANY beer against a coke. 


QldKev


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## QldKev (12/8/12)

tonyt said:


> No he cant run or walk atm, he got a knee replacement, and being overweight didn't do him any favours. Anyhow, Dan murphys have it. I googled it, and makers do claim zero carbs. He loves his beer so i guess if it makes him happy drinking it, no harm. Btw, doc told him to lose 60 kg or say goodbye to "any carb" beer,
> Cheers



Maybe he should give up beer for a while and take up swimming?


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## doon (12/8/12)

330 ml, 4.2% abv, 88 calories and zero carbs. Food match: BIGHEAD will accompany any meal easily, from a hearty pub lunch to a meal of French delicacies. BIGHEAD isn't fussy!

88 calories so this means if he drinks a six pack thats an extra 528 calories on top of what he is eating. he needs to see a nutritionist find out what he needs to be eating a day and stick to that.


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## manticle (12/8/12)

That hearty pub lunch will be great for weight loss.


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## bum (12/8/12)

doon said:


> its not carbs that make you fat its calories.


What is it that you think your body does with carbohydrates?



QldKev said:


> Maybe he should give up beer for a while and take up swimming?


Yeah. I've never been what you'd consider 'over-weight' but I did need to drop a few kilos a couple of years back. After 4 weeks of swimming (and not changing my diet at all (which, to be fair, was already reasonably healthy - minus the beer)) I'd dropped 5 kilos. Swimming is pretty great - way less boring than running/exercise bike/etc and you see health/fitness improvements a lot more quickly.


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## tonyt (12/8/12)

doon said:


> 330 ml, 4.2% abv, 88 calories and zero carbs. Food match: BIGHEAD will accompany any meal easily, from a hearty pub lunch to a meal of French delicacies. BIGHEAD isn't fussy!
> 
> 88 calories so this means if he drinks a six pack thats an extra 528 calories on top of what he is eating. he needs to see a nutritionist find out what he needs to be eating a day and stick to that.



Yep its pretty simple math..... Calories in vs calories out, but, you try telling some people its that simple, there is always some excuse. I suppose its very hard to change habits after 50 years of not worrying about what you eat or drink.


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## hunter551 (12/8/12)

bum said:


> What is it that you think your body does with carbohydrates?



I think what he's saying is that the energy from the alcohol in beer far outweighs the energy from the carbs. So the best bet is to cut down on alcohol not carbs.


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## kelbygreen (12/8/12)

As said to transfer carbs into ethonol you produce calouries. Also as said its more to do with intake to the outtake. If you consume 5000 calories and only burning 4000 then your not going to lose waight infact you need to burn more then you consume to lose any weight I cant talk I need to loose some but if I was to thats the way I would go about it.


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## Nick JD (12/8/12)

I'm still not sure it's possible to enzymatically convert _every_ mash-derived, yeast-available carbohydrate into ethanol. 

Meaning, I don't think it's possible to brew ZERO carb beer. Happy to be corrected, but what are they doing - a saki mash or something? And if zero carbs are left in the beer - why bother using barley? 

How many flavour components of beer are not carbs? All of the things that taste like malt are probably carbs ... sure some are proteins, but most are carbs.

On that note - this brewery is just down the road from me - I might go ask them.


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## doon (12/8/12)

I know what your body does with carbs but if you sit there drinking no carb beer which still had the same amount of energy as normal beer then it will get turned to fat

I work out up to 5 times a week and cycle how many carbs I eat a day I dont sit on my arse drinking a marketing scam thinking my fat arse will magically disappear


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## doon (12/8/12)

Oh and your body does not turn carbs into fat if you are actually exercising and using that energy. If you don't do anything then yes everything you put in your pie hole will end up on your arse


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## bum (12/8/12)

doon said:


> Oh and your body does not turn carbs into fat if you are actually exercising and using that energy.


Your body _never_ turns carbs into fat.

Ever.

Enough with the bro-science, thread.


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## Nick JD (12/8/12)

_Carbohydrate metabolism begins with digestion in the small intestine where monosaccharides are absorbed into the blood stream. Blood sugar concentrations are controlled by three hormones: insulin, glucagon, and epinephrine. If the concentration of glucose in the blood is too high, insulin is secreted by the pancreas. Insulin stimulates the transfer of glucose into the cells, especially in the liver and muscles, although other organs are also able to metabolize glucose.

In the liver and muscles, most of the glucose is changed into glycogen by the process of glycogenesis (anabolism). Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles until needed at some later time when glucose levels are low. If blood glucose levels are low, then eqinephrine and glucogon hormones are secreted to stimulate the conversion of glycogen to glucose. This process is called glycogenolysis (catabolism).

If glucose is needed immediately upon entering the cells to supply energy, it begins the metabolic process called glycoysis (catabolism). The end products of glycolysis are pyruvic acid and ATP.

Since glycolysis releases relatively little ATP, further reactions continue to convert pyruvic acid to acetyl CoA and then citric acid in the citric acid cycle. The majority of the ATP is made from oxidations in the citric acid cycle in connection with the electron transport chain.

During strenuous muscular activity, pyruvic acid is converted into lactic acid rather thatn acetyl CoA. Durlng the resting period, the lactic acid is converted back to pyruvic acid. The pyruvic acid in turn is converted back to glucose by the process called gluconeogenesis (anabolism). If the glucose is not needed at that moment, it is converted into glycogen by glycogenesis. You can remember those terms if you think of "genesis" as the formation-beginning._


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## tricache (13/8/12)

My 2 cents but I tried this just because I fell in love with BB's Hef beer...and Big Head was FOUL!!!! Not a fan at all, no carb = no flavour IMO


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## Nick JD (13/8/12)

tricache said:


> My 2 cents but I tried this just because I fell in love with BB's Hef beer...and Big Head was FOUL!!!! Not a fan at all, no carb = no flavour IMO



Schofferhoffer is cheaper. And better. 

These local micros are taking the piss with being more expensive than the real thing.


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## mark0 (13/8/12)

Nick JD said:


> Ethanol is not a carbohydrate. It's an alcohol.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate
"A *carbohydrate* is an organic compound that consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol
"Ethanol is a 2-carbon alcohol with the molecular formula CH3CH2OH"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol
In chemistry, an *alcohol* is an organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom


ergo, alcohol is a carbohydrate. 

no carb beer can be found behind the hen's teeth, just past the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, next to the perfect woman.


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## JDW81 (13/8/12)

mark0 said:


> ergo, alcohol is a carbohydrate.



No ethanol is not a carbohydrate. Ethanol contains a hydroxyl group (-OH), which carbohydrates do not have. It also doesn't have the structure of a carbohydrate, or the required number of elements in it. E.g. glucose (C6 H12 O6) has a ring structure.

By your reasoning, every single compound that contains C, H and O would be a carbohydrate (esters, aldehydes, organic acids etc.)


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## pcmfisher (13/8/12)

Eat less.


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## Nick JD (13/8/12)

JDW81 said:


> By your reasoning, every single compound that contains C, H and O would be a carbohydrate (esters, aldehydes, organic acids etc.)



Acetone on my Weetbix!


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## tricache (13/8/12)

pcmfisher said:


> Eat less.



Exactly...I found my beer wasn't the problem.

It was the 10pm Pizza, Midnight Peanut Butter on Toast and 2am Kebab that did it


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## tipsy (13/8/12)

This beer makes you lose weight by tasting like crap therefore making you drink less.


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## JDW81 (13/8/12)

Nick JD said:


> Acetone on my Weetbix!



Wouldn't that taste awesome!1


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## Dave70 (13/8/12)

doon said:


> I work out up to 5 times a week and cycle how many carbs I eat a day



Do ya.

How much do squat?


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