Can I still enjoy a beer on The Man Challenge?

There is no scientific evidence that alcohol itself is fattening. You see, your body doesn’t convert and store alcohol as fat – but alcohol does stop your body burning fat while it’s in your system. This can be a problem if you combine it with the wrong foods such as sugar and fat.

The added sugar found in many alcoholic drinks cannot be broken down and instead gets stored as fat. (It is actually the malt sugar in beer that gives you a beer belly, not the alcohol.) This added sugar also causes a spike in insulin levels, which can lead to binge eating and weight gain.

This scenario may be familiar to some of you: you drink too much, your insulin levels go haywire, suddenly you’re starving and before you know it you’re eating a family-size pizza or a kebab at 2am in the morning, with no chance of burning it off.

But alcohol in moderation – no problem. You can lose the beer gut without losing all the beers as long as you follow these rules:

1. Next time you are going to enjoy a few nice cold beverages, make sure you have a high-protein, high-fibre meal beforehand so you don’t overeat later
2. Drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink, as alcohol is dehydrating and thirst can be mistaken for hunger
3. Drink wine, soda water with spirits, or low-carb beer, as these drinks have far less impact on insulin levels than full-strength beer
4. Pick a day to enjoy a few drinks rather than drinking every day

The below displays the calories contained within some of the more popular beer brands:

Pure Blonde - 98 calories per 375ml

At 98 calories per 375ml serve (or 92 calories per 355ml bottle), Pure Blonde is the lowest calorie full-strength Australian beer.

Hahn Super Dry - 113 calories per 375ml

Iron Jack - 114 calories per 375ml

Great Northern - 117 calories per 375ml

Carlton Dry - 125 calories per 375ml

James Squires 150 Lashes - 126 calories per 375ml

Coopers Pale Ale - 130 calories per 375ml

Tooheys Extra Dry - 133 calories per 375ml

Tooheys Old - 136 calories per 375ml

Resch's Draught - 138 calories per 375ml

Carlton Draught - 139 calories per 375ml

Tooheys New - 142 calories per 375ml

Victoria Bitter - 151 calories per 375ml

As always - drink responsibly.