I've posted this again as it might have gone AWOL.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4329323.stm

Saxman  wrote in message news:<d0l27f$hda$1@hercules.btinternet.com>...

> I've posted this again as it might have gone AWOL.
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4329323.stm


(it didn't go awol on google-groups at least)

Anyway, yes I think there's lots of good stuff in it, but not only
good stuff.

Anyone else think that it's a bit spurious to compare equal measures
of wine beer & spirits when looking at calories etc? Shouldn't it be
done on comparing a normal drink of each - e.g. a shot of spirit with
& without mixer, a medium & large glass of wine, and a half or pint of
beer at both 3.5% & 5%?

The stuff about the typical wine glass now being 175ml & often 250ml
is important & interesting, likewise I think there's also a trend for
wines to be stronger - 14.5% is now not uncommon, wheras prev. about
12% was the norm IME. No mention of alcopops either, and I would have
guessed beer would compare well, as they seem to be sugar-ridden &
fairly alcohol.

I think it's good to see an organisation trying to dispel the myth of
the beer-belly - saying that beer itself isn't very unhealthy, but
your lifestyle in terms of what you eat & how much, plus how much
exercise you do, might be.

I went to a v interesting talk with someone from the Brewing Research
International(*) a few years ago which had lots of info about this.
see here - http://tinyurl.com/3u9fz
(*BRI Nutfield, Surrey - www.brewingresearch.co.uk)
cheers
MikeMcG

MikeMcG wrote:


> The stuff about the typical wine glass now being 175ml & often 250ml
> is important & interesting, likewise I think there's also a trend for
> wines to be stronger - 14.5% is now not uncommon, wheras prev. about
> 12% was the norm IME. No mention of alcopops either, and I would have
> guessed beer would compare well, as they seem to be sugar-ridden &
> fairly alcohol.


The wine glasses appear to be getting larger in restaurants and so do 
the prices.  3.99 per glass, I'd rather stick to beer.  At least you 
get more mouthfuls per 1.

"MikeMcG"  wrote in message 
news:1f0d85e1.0503090451.f91eaa@posting.google.com...


> Anyone else think that it's a bit spurious to compare equal measures
> of wine beer & spirits when looking at calories etc? Shouldn't it be
> done on comparing a normal drink of each - e.g. a shot of spirit with
> & without mixer, a medium & large glass of wine, and a half or pint of
> beer at both 3.5% & 5%?



Totally.

I'm a big fat bastard partly because I like to drink 10 pints of beer of an 
evening, and there's no denying that that's a lot of extra calories.

Who can even drink close to 10 pints of wine, let alone spirits?

In general, beer is extremely easy to drink, and therefore is consumed in 
far larger quantities than most other liquids, whether alcoholic or not. 
(Fuck, I know I probably couldn't down 10 pints of Coca-Cola, or even Orange 
Juice, and I'm not sure I've ever drunk that much water, even on my 
thirstiest of days).

BTN

True, but you could enjoy a nice wine spritzer & get more mouthfuls (I
am joking, honestly).

One good thing for wine-drinkers is that at least nowadays finding
decent wine in a pub is, if not a certainty, at least much more common.

Plus, unlike with decent cask beer, it's harder for a pub to screw up a
decent bottle of wine. (in general tho I drink good beer in decent pubs
who know how to keep it)
cheers
MikeMcG

Sir Benjamin Nunn wrote:


> In general, beer is extremely easy to drink, and therefore is consumed in 
> far larger quantities than most other liquids, whether alcoholic or not. 
> (Fuck, I know I probably couldn't down 10 pints of Coca-Cola, or even Orange 
> Juice, and I'm not sure I've ever drunk that much water, even on my 
> thirstiest of days).


Another asset beer has IMO is that drinking is more controlable.  Owing 
to the liquid capacity, one is able to maintain a degree of sobriety.

Drink the equivalent of shorts and one could end up on the floor or out 
the door:-)

Yes, drinking beer regularly does also however mean that when I do
drink something else (wine, spirits, etc) I tend to gulp it down; which
can have a nasty effect on one's sobriety.