Atkins Beer Prejudice?

From the Atkins FAQ:

Why can't I consume alcohol when I am doing Atkins?
You should not drink alcohol during Induction, but you can drink moderate amounts of alcohol during the Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance phases of the Atkins Nutritional ApproachTM. When given the choice, your body will burn alcohol for energy before it burns fat. But alcohol does not act as a carbohydrate so it will not interfere with burning fat in the same way that sugars and other carbohydrates do.
Alcohol consumption may also increase yeast-related symptoms, such as bloating, gas and cravings for sweets, and can therefore interfere with weight loss. Beer, which contains yeast, probably has the most yeast-forming components of any alcohol. An occasional glass of wine or vodka is the best choice. Scotch and other grain-based spirits are more likely to promote yeast problems.

YOU KNOW WHAT I SAY?

1.) "Beer, which contains yeast..."
The Atkins yeast bugaboo is a red herring of an argument. All commercial beers are filtered and contain little to no yeast. The beers are also pasteurized which destroys yeast cells and any critters that might sneak into the beer during the packaging process (the whole purpose of pasteurization). You might find yeast in microbrewed/craft brewed beers, but when Atkins started this "yeast in beer" nonsense, microbeers weren't even invented!

2.) "An occasional wine or vodka is the best choice."
Hogwash! Wine, just like beer, is a fermented product. Yeast causes the chemical reaction that creates alcohol and carbon dioxide. The yeast is killed off in wine when sulfites are added to it and racked off to leave the yeast sediment behind. Wine winds up having no more nor less yeast in it than beer. Making a distinction between two products that are both derived from fermentation is absolute nonsense.

3.) "Scotch and other grain-based spirits are more likely to promote yeast problems."
Someone was hitting the bottle when they wrote this. ALL BOOZE is derived from a mash containing grains, vodka included. In the rare case of some Polish vodkas, potato or potato starch is used as a fermentable base. However, whether grain or potato or even raw sugar is used in the initial fermentation, grain has no effect on the final product. After the fermentation is complete, the mash is heated, the alcohol steams off and is cooled and condensed, giving you booze. Alcohol is alcohol and there is NO difference in the chemical composition of it whether it was derived from grains, potatoes or sugar.

4.) What causes various levels of carbohydrates in beer and wine is the residual sugar left behind after fermentation. Ounce for ounce, the difference in the carb count of wine or beer is virtually the same. The difference, and the point that NOBODY seems to notice, is the serving size. Beer is normally indicated as a 12-ounce serving, wine as a 4-ounce serving. This is the equivalent to comparing apples to oranges.

5.) "How many carbs does alcohol contain?
"It varies by type of alcoholic drink. In the case of beer, read the label. For wine and spirits, refer to a carbohydrate gram counter."

In the case of beer, read the label? You get the feeling that however put this Atkins FAQ together has never sat down and looked at a can of regular-brewed beer. ONLY low-carb beers have a nutritional analysis statement on them but the Atkin's site makes no notice of this major distinction. Is one to assume that "light" beer is the only kind of beer you'll be able to drink the rest of your life?

As for getting the carb counts for wine by referring to a carbohydrate gram counter? What...maybe 2 or 3 brands of wines?

Bob Skilnik
--
Moderation, Not Deprivation
Get The Carb Counts Of
Over 575 Worldwide Beers
And 275 Wines!
The Drink Beer, Get Thin Diet
Now Available At
www.amazon.com
www.1stbooks.com/bookview/16343
www.drinkbeergetthindiet.com

"Bob" wrote in message
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don't post in html

revek

"Bob" wrote in message
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You sound EXACTLY like my alcoholic brother who comes up with a zillion
excuses to drink his beer. Be a man and stop whining; just cut out the
alcohol and lose the weight.
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

And after you've lost the weight, then what---continue drinking "light"
beer? BTW, you missed the whole point of the post. Atkins is wrong when it
comes to describing yeast in beer and booze.

You obviously are another one of those close-minded neo-prohibitionists who
don't drink. You people bore me.

Bob Skilnik
Moderation, Not Deprivation
www.drinkbeergetthindiet.com

marengo wrote in message ...

"Bob" wrote in message
news:tKjgb.690748$YN5.548511@sccrnsc01...

HTML snipped

You sound EXACTLY like my alcoholic brother who comes up with a zillion
excuses to drink his beer. Be a man and stop whining; just cut out the
alcohol and lose the weight.
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

Make me.

"revek" wrote in message
...

"Bob" wrote in message
news:tKjgb.690748$YN5.548511@sccrnsc01...

don't post in html

revek

marengo wrote in message ...
"Bob" wrote in message
news:tKjgb.690748$YN5.548511@sccrnsc01...

HTML snipped

You sound EXACTLY like my alcoholic brother who comes up with a zillion
excuses to drink his beer. Be a man and stop whining; just cut out the
alcohol and lose the weight.



I don't think anything in his post suggests that. All I saw was a
legitimate argument questioning why, according to Atkins, wine and
vodka were supposed to be superior LC alternatives to beer for those
of us that consume alcohol. I think he made valid points which I
hadn't really considered before.

Your post though sounds like one from someone with an anti-alcohol
agenda.

"Bob" wrote in message
news:nOxgb.515703$cF.186087@rwcrnsc53...

snip

You people bore me.

Then go away stupid.

revek

Bob wrote:

And after you've lost the weight, then what---continue drinking "light"
beer?

That depends entirely on your CCLL and/or CCLM. Mine are 50ish and
100ish. If I feel like a beer I have plenty of carb grams to work
with for the day. A lite beer will barely even help me get up to
my 50ish minimum. It takes a real beer to do that. So given my
CCLL and CCLM I get to drink what I prefer, a nice dark beer every
so often. And since I average 1-2 per week I go for the expensive
ones if that's what I feel like it. $12 for a case, $12 for a wine
bottle sized Belgian Trappist hand crafted ale. For me that's an
easy choice. I'd only drink 1-2 of the case no matter how nice its
beer was anyways, so I'll go for the hand crafted one.

BTW, you missed the whole point of the post. Atkins is wrong when it
comes to describing yeast in beer and booze.

You have your points. I've always wondered about why Atkins wrote
what he did. For wine he *did* stress very dry wines only, and
they have that grape extract antioxidant stuff to take into account.
But other than that the difference seems a lot smaller than Dr A
made it out to be.

You obviously are another one of those close-minded
neo-prohibitionists who don't drink.

One of my grandfathers didn't survive to see his 40th birthday.
Teetotallers have their point as long as they don't push it on anyone
who isn't a problem drinker and even if they do intervention on problem
drinkers. Your logo about moderation is right.

website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo
"Bob" wrote in message
news:nOxgb.515703$cF.186087@rwcrnsc53...
And after you've lost the weight, then what---continue drinking "light"
beer? BTW, you missed the whole point of the post. Atkins is wrong when it
comes to describing yeast in beer and booze.

You obviously are another one of those close-minded neo-prohibitionists
who
don't drink. You people bore me.

Bob Skilnik

I drink occassionally. White liquor is lowest in carbs. Beer is for
sissies.
--
Peter

I drink about 18 pints of guiness a week and have dropped from 16.10 to 14.0
in 5 months.

"Chet Hayes" wrote in message
om...
marengo wrote in message ...
"Bob" wrote in message
news:tKjgb.690748$YN5.548511@sccrnsc01...

HTML snipped

You sound EXACTLY like my alcoholic brother who comes up with a zillion
excuses to drink his beer. Be a man and stop whining; just cut out the
alcohol and lose the weight.



I don't think anything in his post suggests that. All I saw was a
legitimate argument questioning why, according to Atkins, wine and
vodka were supposed to be superior LC alternatives to beer for those
of us that consume alcohol. I think he made valid points which I
hadn't really considered before.

Your post though sounds like one from someone with an anti-alcohol
agenda.