Photo: Columbia Pictures
It’s no mindblower that beer isn’t exactly healthy for you, but we’re not sure you realize how unhealthy a lot of very common beers are for you. Thanks to a little research (trueactivist.com, therichest.com) into the ingredients of many commonly devoured domestics and typical imported beers you see on bar shelves, we’re giving you the bad news beers, one sad fact at a time.
While many of the high quantity, affordable suds we suck down (despite their watered-down taste) are seemingly harmless, there are lots of calories, carbs and corn in these babies we aren’t accounting for, along with dangerous ingredients, some of which can be linked to the development of cancer cells.
If it’s your hangover you’re worried about, look again at the labels and see the genetically modified materials and food coloring added to some of your favorite beers, then think again about what you’re pouring down your gullet. It’s OK if you have a little beer gut, just make sure it’s not a genetically modified beer gut. Just try a well-made, honest craft brew instead.
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Bad News Beers
Miller Lite
Perhaps the reason these kinds of domestic beers are so affordable is that they're made using some of the cheapest ingredients, like genetically modified corn and corn syrup. If you're wondering why you have a terrible hangover, it could be that you're poisoning your body. Or maybe it's just that you shouldn't drink a 12 pack in your 30s.
Photo: Miller Lite
Newcastle
That alluring color of Newcastle's Brown Ale can be attributed to caramel coloring 3 and 4, which can, like any carcinogen, develop cancer cells with excessive use.
Photo: Newcastle
Coors Light
We tapped the Rockies and found that Coors is, like its domestic constituents, sweetening its pot with GMO corn syrup. Maybe it's to hide the reality of how badly watered down these beers are, but it could just be laziness. Maybe one day we'll get fast food with real beef and domestic beers with genetically modified ingredients, but that's for the robots on Mars, most likely.
Photo: Coors Light
Pabst Blue Ribbon
PBR has long been the beer of our forefathers (even though it's from Germany) and shortly been the official beer of penniless hipsters. Perhaps that's because our forefathers didn't know (or give two shits) about GMO-based products, and hipsters will drink anything that makes them look cool. Even anti-freeze.
Photo: Drew Angerer / Staff (Getty Images)
Michelob Ultra
If you've never heard of dextrose, its genetically modified ingredient is much like GMO corn syrup, which is found in Michelob. While this may be the lightest beer in taste, it's still a bit bogged down with dirty ingredients.
Photo: Spencer Platt / Staff (Getty Images)
Sierra Nevada
If you're loving that hop taste, help yourself to some Sierra Nevada, but be careful. The calorie count on one of these puppies is a bit high (175). Maybe switch to Sierra Mist after a couple or hit the treadmill in the morning.
Photo: Sierra Nevada
Corona Extra
Corona may seem like the beer of summer, but if you put it up against other summer beers without GMO corn syrup and propylene glycol (the stuff in anti-freeze), you'll taste the difference. Your body may thank you, too.
Photo: SOPA Images / Contributor (Getty Images)
Blue Moon
Like Sierra, Blue M oon is a thick, delicious beer, but it's also like Sierra in that it's high in calories (164) and carbs (13 g). If you're polishing off a mixer of these, your gut might be getting a little beer-ish.
Photo: Cindy Ord / Stringer (Getty Images)
Budweiser
The King of Beers, or as we like to refer to it, Bud Diesel, is made with genetically modified corn. For those of us who aren't aware, non-GMO products are getting rolled out more and more as GMO-based foods and drinks have been linked to a number of problems with our cardiovascular health and skin. That should be a red flag for one of the biggest sports sponsored drinks in America.
Photo: Spencer Platt / Staff (Getty Images)
Straw Ber Ita
Can't choose between a margarita and a shitty domestic beer? No problem. Here's essentially a Bud Light Lime mixed with a strawberry marg and an overdose of sugar and alcohol. Mmm, it's a straw-ber-ita you won't be able to re-mem-ber tomorrow.
Photo: Straw-Ber-Ita