I wonder why you can't have any beer with the southbeach diet?

Miller Lite only has a little over 3 grams of carbs, and 90 some calories.

Does it have to do with the wheat ingredients? Or that some peeps can't
stop with one beer?

Thanks,

Vladaar

Alcohol will kick you out of ketosis. Your body will burn alcohol untill it is gone then revert back to ketosis.

Thanks,

your reply saved me from making a mistake.

Vladaar

Actually the SBD does not focus/require ketosis. However on page 28 of SBD Good Fats Good Carbs Guides where beverages are discussed, it states: "Finally, research suggests that moderate consumption of alcohol reduces risk for heart disease and diabetes. We believe this is best accomplished by drinking red or white wine with meals. Beer is the worst choice because it contains maltose, the sugar with the highest glycemic index." Basically, my understanding is that even though the low carb beers have less carbs/sugar it is still taboo because it is maltose and the maltose can/will create a quick spike in blood sugar followed by a fast drop and this will cause cravings.

Also your body will put any fat burning on hold when you drink. Alcohol is a much easier substance to turn to keotenes then fat is. While you have alcohol your liver will process those keotenes and leave the fat alone. What you eat at this time will be stored as fat for later use, possibly around your liver. There is also the problem you mentioned of stopping after just one, and will power is also lowered so it's harder to stay on plan.

Alcohol in moderation can be fine, as mentioned some have health benifits. Large amounts of alcohol, or regular drinking cna lead to liver problems from that fat build up, as well as never really burning fat. With beer there is a high GI sugar, and no nutritional benifits. With red or white wine there can be a smaller amount of carbs (the dry wines) and possible health benifits.

I think one thing SB and all LC diets start making you look at is what is in food, not just what it's lacking. Fat free or carb free doesn't mean healthy, it's what nutrients are available in relation to the carb or fat amounts. That's why veggies and berroes are always a good bet, lots of nutrients with a smaller amount of carbs.

I think the original post is asking about a specific chapter in the SB book where the Dr. explains that beer is the worst of the alcohols because the maltose form of carbohydrate is the most quickly metabolized. While this might be true, it does not change the fact that a light beer is fairly low carb.

So, can you have a light beer? Sure! Does it have calories? Yes! If you have a beer with a meal, your body will burn the alcohol first and store the fat for later. Your options are to enjoy your beer and have a minor setback on your diet, or don't drink the beer and be the only sober bloke in the bunch.

I forgot to mention in a recent interview, Dr. Agaston admitted he overstated the danger of drinking beer and that you can enjoy beer in the same moderation you would enjoy wine in Phase 2 and 3 of the SB diet.

The reason why beer is worse than wine is not the alcohol - non-alcoholic beer is also pretty bad - but the fact that maltose is basically a sugar made out of two glucose - if you take table sugar, enzymes split it into glucose and fructose. Fructose are calories but don't mess up with insulin, whereas glucose it what triggers the insulin response. So in a way maltose is worse than table sugar.

But I go for light or ultralight - I have an occasional Corona light (6.5 g carb) or in restaurants the quite watery Ultralight. If you are able to have it in moderation, you will be fine.