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-Elizabeth Chinery, Junior Community Outreach Coordinator

CNN.com

We all know the negative consequences of drinking too much alcohol, such as dehydration, appearing older than you are (wrinkled skin, bags under eyes, etc), depression, diabetes, a decrease in or loss of your memory capabilities, strokes and many more. What a lot of people don’t consider is the amount of empty calories that you consume with each drink.

According to the article, light beer is “around 100 calories while regular beer [averages] 153 calories per 12-fluid ounce can or bottle — that’s the same as two or three Oreo cookies.” That may not seem too bad but when you get into today’s popular craft beers you see beers such as Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and Narwhal who rack up 318 to 344 calories per bottle or can, “about as much as a McDonald’s cheeseburger.” Each bottle or can of these drinks is another cheeseburger going into your system. No wonder heart disease and certain cancers (such as “bowel, liver, mouth, breast, and oral) are seen all to often in those who consume too much alcohol in a regular basis. Science has even now been finding that the idea that drinking in moderation (i.e. “one ‘standard’ drink a day for women and two for men'”) “is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease” to be untrue. “Science now says it depends on your age and drinking habits” since as you age your immune system lowers and drinking alcohol further weakens it’s effectiveness leading to a higher risk of the aforementioned side effects as you age in combination with the amount of alcohol you consume.