Prominent weight loss expert explains why wine will help you burn fat – while beer will add to your belly!

Ahh, summer. Lazy days at the beach, coolers stocked with wine and beer, shorts, swimsuits and — That belly. Those hips. Those thighs.

If you’re hoping to trim those fat spots and feel more comfortable in warm weather attire, one simple step will help keep the extra weight off:

When reaching for the cooler, choose wine, not beer.

Why?  The real culprit in weight loss is insulin, not calories says Charles Nguyen, MD, co-author with bariatric internist Tu Song Anh Nguyen and health journalist Mary Ann Marshall of The Thinsulin Program: The Breakthrough Solution To Help You Lose Weight And Stay Thin

Insulin, he explains, causes the body to store fat.  And certain carbs cause your body’s insulin level to rise. These include anything made of grains — such as beer.

So even if you reason that a light beer has only 96 calories, it doesn’t matter. The grains in that cold one will still spike your insulin level, triggering your body to store fat — where else? You guessed it. Right in your gut.

In contrast, wine is made from fermented grapes, a fruit that does not cause insulin levels to spike.

Ever see somebody with a wine belly? If you have just one glass a day, you can keep the spare tire off and flaunt your beach bod.

Charles Nguyen, M.D., medical director of the Lorphen Medical Weight Loss Clinic in Riverside, CA, is co-author with Tu Song-Anh Nguyen and Mary Ann Marshall of The Thinsulin Program (Da Capo Press, 2016). He earned his M.D. from the University of California at Irvine, where he completed his psychiatry residency training and, as a faculty member, won excellence in teaching awards for seven consecutive years. He also won the Thomas F. Riley Community Service Award, the NAMI Bridge Builder Award, and the 2010 Orange County Physicians of Excellence Award. The same year, Orange Coast Magazine recognized him as best physician.