Is low carb beer really a buffer against beer gut?

Meet three footy loving beer converts, lured in by the promise of Guilt free drinking - and no more beer gut.

These men are getting the middle aged spread, and their thinking what to do about it?

For beer drinkers like Matt, Alistair and Daniel, low carbohydrate beer has been a gift from heaven.

"I was starting to bang on a few kilos... I had to," Alastair says.

"Living down in Bondi, you get down the beach there are a lot of good bodies down there, and at the moment, I'm not one of them."

Daniel says he likes the taste of low carb beer, and it is the logical step for blokes that are a bit more health conscious than others, while Matt says the new healthy alternatives are a message to other beers on the market.

And the message is spreading.

In the United States, four of the top five beers are low carb, but in Australia, the so-called healthy beers only make up six per cent of the total market.

But that number is growing by 80 per cent each year.

Pure Blonde is a popular low car beer which landed on the Australian beer market two years, and has carved a niche among discerning lovers of the amber ale.

General manager of the beer with the Fosters Group Peter Sinclair says although it is a healthier beer, it will not necessarily trim you down.

"I think consumers are looking for a healthier lifestyle choice, and a beer that has less carbs, and tastes great," Mr Sinclair says.

"The truth is that it doesn't have significantly less energy than the standard beer and if people are looking for less calories you need to look for a low alcohol beer.

"Unfortunately the perception that low carb beers have a lot less calories it is not the case.

"It's only the low alcohol beers that have the significant different amount of calories."

Leading dietician, Susie Burrel of the Dietitians Association of Australia says the popularity of low carb beer is more a victory of marketing over science.

"As soon as you say something is low, everyone assumes it's really low, and it's going to lead to weight loss," she says.

"Unfortunately in the case of the Low Carb beers, it's not significantly less (than full strength beer)."

So have our three amigos been sold some top spin? Or is the low carb option a better buffer to the beer belly?

Personal trainer Andreas Lundin says given a choice, low carb beers are still the better option.

"In a normal beer... its about 130 to 150 calories, something like that, with Low Carb beer, you maybe get to 90, so you save yourself 30 to 40 calories.

"If you're drinking lots, that's a big thing."