Are you aiming to cut carbs?

You drink only 3 grams of carbohydrate from a 375mL bottle or can compared to 10 grams from regular beer. So you're drinking in about one-third the carbs of regular beer.

You save 7 grams carbs per bottle or can which is around the carbs in half a slice of bread. Not much of a saving really.

But over an evening of say six beers (not recommended), this would translate to 40 grams less carbs.

Are you aiming to drink less alcohol? You won't save anything!

Low carb beers have the same alcohol content as full strength regular beers. They're NOT low alcohol which is probably why they appeal as they have a better flavour.

If you like numbers, check the table below.  You'll see low carb beer has around 4.6% alcohol by volume, which is the same as regular beer but more than mid-strength (at 3.4%) or light low-alcohol beers (2.7%).

All figures per 100mL.

Carbs vs alcohol?

Removing EITHER carbohydrate or alcohol from beer means you end up consuming less kilojoules (20 to 33 per cent less depending on the brand), which gives you a good reason to order either if you're after weight loss.

What's interesting though, is both low carb beer and light beer are similar in kilojoules - around 450 kJ per bottle or 120 kJ per 100mL.

From a health viewpoint, irrespective of whether you are trying to lose weight or not, it's better to drink less alcohol than take in less carbohydrates.

Therefore, my recommnedation would be a lower alcohol beer. You cut back on alcohol (which is good news for your liver, blood pressure and cancer risk) AND save on kilojoules.

One final point:

Compared to soft drink, beer is NOT high in carbohydrate in the first place. Regular beer has 3% carbs while soft drink has 10 or 11%.  So a 375mL bottle or can contains about 10g of carbs compared with 40g for the soft drink.

Low carb beers by brand (in alphabetical order)

All figures are per 100mL of beer. Data from Calorie King with thanks.

Low carb beer in the news

• Low carb beer slammed as an 'insidious' health risk
  Low carb beers should not be seen as a "healthy alternative" to full strength beer, says addiction expert Dr Peter Miller from Deakin University in Victoria in a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia. Diet conscious drinkers have flocked to beers and "blondes"  which make much of their low-carbohydrate credentials, but you're better off sticking to a low alcohol brew. Read the news report.
• Find a healthier way to drink
  A recent trend in ‘healthy drinking’ in Australia has seen an influx of organic, preservative free, biodynamic, lower alcohol and low carb products hit the alcohol market. Consumers are being mindful of selecting drinks and mixers that are free of nasty chemicals and preservatives, made with fresh organic ingredients and brewed, fermented or distilled locally. Read the news report.

Written by guest contributor, dietitian-nutritionist Catherine Saxelby, and reproduced here with permission from www.foodwatch.com.au.