As a retired brewer I can confirm that all alcoholic beverages are to a degree fattening (Letters, 18 and 19 October). Alcohol is produced during fermentation by yeast breaking down short chain carbohydrates (primarily glucose) to produce ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. At the end of fermentation there is always a residue of carbohydrate carried forward to the final product. This together with the complex degradation of alcohol by the liver to produce further carbohydrate gives the beverage its high calorific content.
I am undergoing alcohol-free October and can provide evidence of the above. In three weeks of no alcohol and eating the same amount as before I have lost 10lbs in weight. It is not, as my wife believes, an indication that I normally consume far more than 21 units of alcohol a week. Roll on 1 November.
Frank Smith
Aspatria, Cumbria
• Colin Purdom says (Letters, 18 October) that alcohol contains no calories. The trouble is though, my glass of wine tends to lead to “You know some cheese and biscuits would go nicely now” followed by “Mmm think I’ll just finish off that bag of crisps from last night”; and then, “Those two sweet biscuits left at the bottom of the pack would finish things off perfectly”. So I reckon my glass of wine “contains” at least 300 calories.
Peter Hanson
Exeter
• Alcohol does make you fat, but not directly. The liver detoxifies it and what is left is used as a fuel for metabolism in the body. This displaces the fat in food which would otherwise be used to fuel metabolism, so that is stored and you get fat. Pity really.
Joe Millward
Emeritus professor of human nutrition, University of Surrey
• Jo Gibson’s explanation (Letters, 19 October) is only partly correct. The acetate formed from alcohol is also the two-carbon unit from which all fatty acids are made. All the acetate formed from carbohydrates, some amino-acids and alcohol is treated in the same way by the body, either oxidised to produce energy as ATP (adenosine triphosphate), or, if there is too much acetate from whatever source, the excess is converted into fat. Fat is the major energy store of the body and we need it but, as with many things, too much of it is the problem.
Ian Skidmore
Welwyn, Hertfordshire
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
.png?w=600)
