Beer Belly Is a Myth

You can now tap that keg with impunity. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that the term “beer belly”—the commonly held belief that “beer consumption is a major determinant of waist circumference”—is a misnomer. A team of European researchers studied 20,000 people for more than years, and monitored the relationship between beer consumption, waist circumference, and hip circumference. They found that while beer consumption leads to weight gain, “the common belief of a site-specific effect of beer on the abdomen, the beer belly,” is not true. Instead, they found that weight gain in the belly is primarily an effect of genetics. So pop open a cold one—and blame your parents for yet another thing.