Calories in alcohol…

Did you know that a glass of wine has the same calories as a slice of cake? How about a pint of lager – surprised to hear it’s the calorific equivalent of a burger?

In a 2009 Department of Health survey of 2,000 adults, four in 10 admitted they didn’t know those facts about calories in alcohol.

The survey also revealed that the average wine drinker consumes 2,000 extra calories each month. Over the course of a year, that’s the equivalent of eating 184 bags of crisps or 38 roast beef dinners.

Calories in alcohol are empty and extra-fattening

Wine, beer, cider, spirits are made by fermenting and distilling natural starch and sugar. The high sugar means alcohol contains lots of calories – seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat!

Calories from alcohol are ‘empty calories’ – they have no nutritional value.

It’s not just the calories that are a problem for our waistlines. Drinking alcohol reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy. While we store nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat in our bodies, we can’t store alcohol. So our systems want to get rid of it – and doing so takes priority. All of the other processes that should be taking place (including absorbing nutrients and burning fat) are interrupted.

Alcohol and appetite

Along with drinking alcohol comes the temptation to snack, once you’ve had a drink your will-power goes and you give-in to the take away on the way home, the bag of crisps or chocolate that you have been refraining from before. According to the Department of Health survey, almost one in three people order crisps, nuts or pork scratchings to accompany a drink, while nearly a fifth regularly opt for takeaway food.

More than six out of 10 drinkers have an unhealthy breakfast if they have a hangover.

How many calories are in my drink?

With a pint of bitter the same as a medium slice of pizza, and a standard size ‘ready to drink’ bottle (‘alcopop’) the same as 100g of cookies, the calories from alcohol soon add up…

Gin or vodka and tonic =126

gin or vodka with diet drink = 56

Dark rum and coke =142

Medium glass of white wine (175ml) =130

Medium glass of red wine (175ml) =120

Bottle of wine (white) =555

Bottle of wine (red) =510

5% Lager (pint) =240-50

Cider (pint) =180-250

Stout (pint) =210

Bitter/Ale =180-230

Liqueur (50ml) =100 -170

Brandy (50ml) =110

Whiskey (25ml) =55

Mixed drink (Ready to drink) (275ml bottle) =160-228

The Government guidelines recommend that women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily and that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily. Drinking within these guidelines, and trying to give yourself a couple of days off alcohol every week, will help you avoid piling on the pounds.