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Award-winning Wold Newton based Wold Top Brewery is celebrating after new research suggests that beer contains fewer calories than other alcoholic drinks.

As people strive to lose the last few pounds prior to the annual summer holiday, research from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) has revealed that, not only can they enjoy their favourite tipple without putting on weight, but swapping from wine to beer for just one week could save as many calories as a half-hour jog!

The research, published by CAMRA during the recent annual Great British Beer Festival reveals that around one-third of men and women wrongly believe that beer has more calories than other alcoholic drinks. In fact, the opposite is true and, when drunk in moderation, beer can help you to lose weight, cut your alcohol consumption and, more generally, supplement a healthy lifestyle.

CAMRA’s research is based on a groundbreaking report entitled ‘Beer, the natural choice?’, by leading health journalist Isla Whitcroft. The report examined the health properties of beer and its calorie content compared to other alcoholic drinks and revealed that half a pint of a 3.8% ABV bitter contained only 85 calories and 1.1 alcoholic units whereas a medium glass (175ml) of 12% ABV white wine contains 131 calories and almost double the alcoholic units at 2.1.

Wold Top Brewery’s owner Tom Mellor said, “It is great to see the myth of the ‘beer belly’ being exploded. Too many consumers, particularly women, have been discouraged from drinking beer because of concerns that it is more fattening than wine but now we know that the opposite is true. We hope this research makes more people realise that beer is relatively low in alcohol and calories – but is still packed with a fantastic amount of flavor and is made using local ingredients wherever possible.”

Professor Charlie Bamforth, renowned technical brewing expert, also welcomed the report’s findings. He said, “The major source of calories in any alcoholic drink is the alcohol itself, and because beer is the drinks category with the lowest average alcohol content it is also lowest in calories. Beer also contains no fat or cholesterol and very few free sugars. So for someone looking to lose weight, swapping their glass of wine for a beer every day would not only reduce their weekly alcohol intake by seven units – but also cut out more calories than are burned off during a typical 30 minute jog.”

Made from the finest hops and home grown malting barley coupled with the purest, chalk-filtered Wolds water, Wold Top Brewery real ales are brewed with passion from traditional recipes. They are available through the website www.woldtopbrewery.co.uk, farm shops, delis, hotels, pubs and off licences throughout Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.