Calories in Alcoholic Drinks

Let’s start by getting one thing clear: weight loss and alcoholic drinks can never go hand in hand. If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll have to give up on the drink, or at least, cut down till it becomes a luxury. The calories in most alcoholic drinks are pretty high. But what is worse is that these calories are all “empty” calories. This means that while they provide the calories, they do not actually have any nutritional value.

That means a lot, because alcohol has almost double the calories that carbs or fats have.
What really makes alcoholic drinks a no-no, though, is the way they are drunk. Most drinks are normally drunk with a mixer, usually a soft drink of some sort. These soft drinks are high on sugars, which are notorious for helping you gain weight. Also, when you’re drinking, you are also probably munching down on unhealthy, fatty, or oily snacks. None of this is good for you or your gut. So while alcohol supporters may say that studies have been unable to prove a link between fat gain and alcohol, do not fool yourself. If you want to lose weight, you will have to cut down on alcohol.

If you want to know exactly how many calories you’re downing, get yourself a “calories in alcoholic drinks” chart. These are easily available online, and will help you to plot out your caloric intake. You can compare calories in alcoholic drinks to determine which are not as harmful, but you will find that it does not really matter what you drink, you will end up consuming more or less the same amount of calories. For instance, a half-liter of beer or lager contains between 180 to 200 calories. Similarly, 100 ml of whiskey has approximately 220 calories, the same as gin, brandy, or rum. While it may seem, at first glance, that beer has less calories per ml, keep in mind that you normally drink much more beer than you do a hard liquor like whiskey or rum. The mixer can add between 60 to 200 calories per serving of alcohol.

Wine has been shown to have beneficial effects, especially for the heart, but contains from 60 to 90 calories per glass served. So one glass of wine a day may not do you much harm, but if you have more than a glass on a regular basis, it definitely is not the best for you. If you really want to keep your heart and body healthy, go for a run instead. Lastly, alcohol is not just high calorie; it also damages the stomach, kidneys, and liver. So if you must drink, drink rarely, and stick to wine or fruit-based alcohols.

Submitted on January 16, 2014