You asked, we listened. Follower question of the week.

Q: I LOVE beer, but I know it’s carb-heavy and a no-no on F-Factor. Are there any options for me?

A: Yes! We never thought we’d be saying this, but with recent rise in carb-conscious American consumers, low carb beers are now a thing… and some of them are low enough in carbs that you can have even if you’re on Step 1 of F-Factor! What you should know about beer in general, why beer has long been taboo, the low carb beers you can enjoy while following Step 1 of The F-Factor Diet, and how to journal them here.

BEER’S BAD RAP 

The reason beer has long been associated with a beer belly (and taboo on F-Factor) is because it is more carb heavy than other alcoholic beverages. Where a glass of wine is around 2g of carbs, and a shot of clean liquor is 0g carbs, a 12-oz serving of regular beer has around 12-15g of carbs. Step 1 of F-Factor limits your intake of carbohydrates to just 3 servings of high-fiber carbs per day, so beer would not be an appropriate choice. Talk about bad news beers. 

The reason beer has more carbs than other alcoholic beverages has to do with the key ingredient that fermented to produce alcohol. All alcoholic beverages are produced through the fermenting of carbohydrates. Wine is what happens when grapes are fermented, and beer is a fermented grain beverage. The carbohydrates in grains, which are used to make beer, are more complex than the carbohydrates that are used to make wine, fruit. Because the carbs to make beer (grains) are more complex carbs, the yeasts that ferment said carbs have a harder time converting them to alcohol than they do with fruit. Thus, the fermentation process of grains yields a beverage (beer) with more carbs, and less alcohol than it does with wine. 

WHAT ABOUT LIGHT BEERS? 

Light beers are beers that have reduced calories and/or alcohol content, in comparison to their OG counterparts. To make beers with reduced calories—AKA light beers—brewers cut alcohol levels. This is because alcohol contains more calories than carbohydrates do. The more alcohol in a drink by volume, ABV, the more caloric a drink is—so if brewers reduce the alcohol, the calories go down. The result is something with about 2/3 the calories of regular beers (and a lower ABV). This is great if you like the taste of beer and just looking for one that is less strong, but not so great if you’re carb conscious, as the carb-content often remains rather unchanged in the process. Therefore, despite the reduction in calories, your average light beer still is not suitable for Step 1 of F-Factor.

THE NEW LIGHT BEERS – LOW CARB BEERS

With the rise of health-conscious and carb-conscious consumers, brewers have found new ways to further improve their product lines. As mentioned above, to reduce calories, brewers cut alcohol levels. To cut carbs, brewers to tinker with the grain mixes (adding corn and rice), change yeast types and mashing temperatures and extend fermentation times to convert as many of the carbs into alcohol as possible. Therefore, many low-carb beers have an alcohol content comparable to standard, full-carb beers (which is somewhere around 4-5% ABV), but with lower calories and very little residual sugar. And because the carbs are lower too, the calories are comparable to those of light beers. 

The resulting beers are lower in calories and carbs.

TOP 10 BEERS FOR LIVING ON F-FACTOR (AND HOW TO JOURNAL THEM) 

The best beers for living the F-Factor Way have less than 5g carbs per serving. From highest in carbs to the absolute lowest, here are 10 beers with 5g carb or less per serving (unless otherwise stated, 1 serving is defined as 12 oz):

AND IF YOU DRINK TOO MANY…

Our handy-dandy hangover helper guide is always here for you. As always, drink responsibly.