Drink This, Not That

OK, I'm sure I am not shocking you by saying that beer does contain quite a few calories. All beers are not created equal and I am not talking about Bud versus Bud light. Some beers are surprisingly more caloric than others. A good rule of thumb is that the more alcohol by percentage in your beer, the more calories it has, although there are some exceptions. Belgian beers, for example, almost always have a higher calorie content because they are almost always more alcoholic. Most beers worth drinking have no indication of how many calories they contain, and well, that's just fine by me. Sam Adams and Dogfish are two of the only companies I have found that list the caloric contents of their beers on their websites. Dogfish, of course, prefaces their listings with "in case you care". Which I think is probably the best attitude. It seems like everywhere we look we are confronted with what is "bad" for you. I recently discovered some literature by an enterprising guy, David Zinczenko, who has written a book, Eat This, Not That. He suggests that we can merely substitute certain high calorie foods and beverages for similar things with lower calorie contents. I personally take issue with his list of beers. Neither the high calorie beer nor the substitutes seemed worth drinking. Come on, Yuengling light? You've got to be kidding me! Michelob Ultra? Preposterous! I propose this solution instead: drink good beer, not bad beer. In fact, try one of those high calorie, stronger Belgian beers because you won't have to drink as many of them to get a buzz. Oh, and you might be more satisfied, due to the fact that the beer you are drinking actually has flavor- something Zinczenko seems to have forgotten about. What? Eating and drinking is about taste?? Here's another idea; eat less junk food and drink more beer. Or, exercise more and drink whatever you want. And on and on. Why be obsessed with quantity instead of quality? Americans! When will we ever get our consumption priorities straight? No wonder the French and the rest of Europe think we are so silly.