The Beer and Sausage Diet
There are a lot of crazy diets out there. All of them you can lose weight with. Weight loss has many advantages. But the beer and sausage diet was fun. Here is what we learned:
- A calorie is just a calorie
- Being in calorie deficit is difficult
- Meticulous journaling is important
- Your lab values will improve with weight loss
- A beer is a good unit measure
- Weighing your food is important
I’m The Doctor
If you hear Evo Terra on national television talking about the beer diet, you will hear my name. I’m the doctor.
Late one September, I get a call from my friend, Evo Terra. He said, “October is coming; I want to lose some weight and want to do a beer fast. ”
So we devise a diet, not just beer – but let’s add sausages. After all, what is beer without sausages?
Careful Supervision
This was a medically supervised diet. It ran for the month of October every year for four years. Every week he would come into my clinic. Every week he would have blood draws.
- cholesterol levels
- liver enzymes
- Weekly weight
- We would check muscle mass vs. fat mass
- inflammatory markers
We were prepared to stop the experiment and return him to a normal diet. For Evo, a normal diet is maybe not your diet. Since Evo likes the food I make, I assume he has a great diet. For many years, one of my great joys in Phoenix was when Evo and his wife would come over for dinner Sunday nights. Damn, I miss those days.
We established early on that Evo likes beer
There are advantages to beer and sausages
A beer is a single unit. There is little variation in terms of caloric intake.
Sausage can easily be weighed, and Evo was strict regarding the weight of his sausages.
We added vitamins and fiber to his regimen.
He had six beers a day, and a designated driver at all times.
Science Wins
For those who say grains are evil and you can never lose weight or you would have horrible inflammation, well, Evo didn’t fit with that. Because no one does. The idea that grains are evil is a myth of the low-carb community.
Vegans didn’t like the idea of Evo eating sausages: “Pure processed meat will lead to inflammation and all the evils associated with eating meat.”
It didn’t happen.
Calorie deficit led to weight loss, despite drinking beer and eating sausages.
His inflammatory markers didn’t rise; they went down.
His cholesterol went down.
His liver enzymes decreased – not that they were high to begin with.
Every year he kept his weight off – we are now over ten years past the last experiment.
Conclusions:
I don’t recommend this as a weight loss method. I do recommend weight loss by the simple principles of calorie restriction, a well-rounded diet, and vigorous exercise. Which diet, you ask? Either the Mediterranean or the DASH diet.
Evo wrote a book, and you can buy it here.
