Beer and diet don’t mix, do they? But sometimes, you just have to have a beer. When you get the craving, make sure you know the healthiest beer to drink on a weight loss program.

Whether or not you can drink beer while dieting and still lose weight depends on why you want beer in the first place. If you’re drinking to get drunk, you’re out of luck. Every reasonable diet program severely limits alcohol consumption because alcohol lowers leptin levels.

Leptin is the substance in your body that tells your body whether to burn fat or hold onto it. If the levels are low, it signals your body to store fat. You don’t want to do anything that lowers your leptin levels if you want to lose weight.

So going on a spree and having a six pack or two is not possible if your goal is to lose weight. However, you can enjoy the taste without it hurting your dieting efforts.

If the reason you want beer is because you just like the taste of it, you have an option that will not only taste good so you feel like you’re enjoying it, but it’s also one of the ways to burn fat. There’s one beer on the market that’s pretty good for you: O’Douls.

O’Douls is high in carbohydrates, which help raise leptin levels, and unlike many processed sources of carbohydrates, O’Douls has no exception like high fructose corn syrup. So it’s a relatively healthy drink option.

You still need to think about calories, of course. Too much of anything, whether healthy or not, will block your weight loss progress. But in moderation, O’Douls is not a bad choice.

And if you absolutely must have the alcoholic version of a concoction, will it completely mess up your diet?

Not if you are careful with your choice. Obviously, you want to choose a light version, but be careful which one you choose. Calorie levels vary quite a bit and so does the carbohydrate content. You want the one with the fewest calories and carbs.

The number one beer that meets this requirement is Bud Select 55. But you can find others if you poke around and read the labels.

Just like with O’Douls, you still can’t go crazy on light beers. Too much of anything, especially alcohol, will ruin your fat burning efforts.

Although beer and diet don’t usually go hand in hand, you can still enjoy a cold beer when you’re on a weight loss program. Just make sure you choose the healthiest beer you can, and enjoy it in moderation.