Summary: Janet Podleski tells us what to look out for in an alcoholic drink.<br> <br> Host: Gloria Tsang, RD<br> Guest: Janet Podleski<br> <br> With more parties and social activities, it’s not unusual to drink more alcohol during the holiday season. But if you don’t want to wake up with a pounding hangover and a bigger waistline the next morning, stay tuned. Janet Podleski, author of Eat, Shrink and Be Merry is here to tell us what to look out for in an alcoholic drink.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Transcript:<br> Gloria Tsang, RD: With more parties and social activities, it's not unusual to drink more alcohol during the holiday season. But if you don't want to wake up with a pounding hangover and a bigger waistline the next morning, stay tuned. Welcome to the Nutrition Tidbits podcast. This is Gloria Tsang, editor-in-chief for HealthCastle.com. Joining me today is Food Network Canada star Janet Podleski. She is the author of Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. She is here today to tell us what to look out for in an alcoholic drink. Thank you for joining me Janet.<br> <br> Janet Podleski: Hi there. Glad to be here.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Now, what actually makes a beer belly?<br> <br> Janet Podleski: A lot of people think it's just the calories but it has a lot to do with how alcohol affects your hormonal balance and your liver. Your liver has a lot to do with processing and disposing of excess hormones and cholesterol. Nowadays, we are just really exposed to many toxins - whether it's junk food, pharmaceutical drugs, caffeine, artificial sweeteners and stuff from just everyday living, including alcohol. When your liver just gets bombarded by all these things, one of the things that happen is that it cannot process those hormones as affectively, so they aren't flushed from your body. That's a lot of complications that can happen including that extra hard beer gut that you see on a lot of men. Your liver is also responsible for fat metabolism so when it's bogged down with all the toxins, it can't do one of its job at getting rid of fat.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: So tell us what is the difference between low carb beer versus light beer.<br> <br> Janet Podleski: People think that because it's a lower carb beer, they have reduced some of the net carbs. And by doing that, it's going to reduce calories a little bit. That's good but it's actually the alcohol itself and not the carbohydrate that can affect your weight. That's because alcohol itself still raises the level of insulin in your body. It (alcohol) raises blood sugar and causes insulin to be released. Insulin is that dreaded fat storage hormone. Just because the beer says it's low carb, it doesn't necessary mean you should be drinking more of it. I know I had a friend who said that to me. He said that now with all these low card beers, I can drink a twelve pack instead of a 6 pack and it's good for me right?<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Are the lower carb beers actually lower in calories or just slightly lower in calories?<br> <br> Janet Podleski: They are just slightly lower in calories. I think it's more of a marketing hype than anything. You should really be careful with the amount of alcohol that you drink. If you actually have some weight to lose, it's really hard if you drink alcohol at al. I think if you want to lose weight, it's a good idea to stop for a month or a couple of weeks and see happens. Because its' going to raise your blood sugar, it's going to make it difficult to lose weight; especially in that tough to lose waist area.<br> <br> Gloria Tsang, RD: Now let's talk about cocktails. Do you know of some of the worst contenders out there? I have heard some cocktails top up the calorie scale to 600 calories. Do you know of any worst contenders?<br> <br> Janet Podleski: Yes. Those really fruity, girly drinks that we like so much; those ones are loaded with sugar. Even something like Kahlua,
