Well, it’s officially summer and you know what that means; pool parties, boating, stress-less days and beer-filled-campfire-nights. I mean, that’s at least what we’re all dreaming of, right?
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But let’s be real for a second, some students spend the later part of the second semester at the gym and or eating healthier than usual. Why? Because, at least for west coast students, as soon as you turn in your last final, it becomes beach season and you want to be ready. However, those late night kick-backs with a couple beers might hurt your well-earned results.
One of the many things I learned last year in my nutrition classes was that, for the most part, students gain weight their first year of college. But the reason behind that statement wasn’t that the students were eating less healthy, it was because they were drinking beer, lots and lots of beer.
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The problem is not necessarily the calories per beer, but the number of beers one person consumes in a sitting. It’s easy to go overboard when you’re in a social setting. According to Michael Jensen, MD, “In general, alcohol intake is associated with bigger waists, because when you drink alcohol, the liver burns alcohol instead of fat.”
My dad’s friend always said, “There’s a sandwich in every beer” because, calorie-wise, there are about 2 slices of bread for every 12 oz can of beer. The average slice of white bread has approximately 70 calories while the average beer has approximately 150 calories. Dividing the two, that’s a little over 2 slices per beer.
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Now, the light beers do lower your bread count to 1-1.5 slices of bread but that’s not much of a difference. Why sacrifice the quality and taste if it’s only a half a slice of bread different, amirite?
But this isn’t supposed to make you feel bad about the number of beers (or sandwiches) you may end up drinking this summer. This is just a fun little way of comparing the nutrition facts of two well-loved foods.
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