alcohol

Holiday Cheer Can Pack A Big Punch

December 27, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Holiday toasts and festive drinks are a big part of the holidays and can be a big – and hidden – calorie hit. With a little bit of forethought and planning you can enjoy holiday cheer and still keep your calories and buzz under control.

A standard drink (in the US) is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer (each drink contains about 14 grams of alcohol).

Alcohol, regardless of the type, has 7 calories per gram. It doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract and brain so it doesn’t fill you up the way food does. You can drink a lot and not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed).

Is It Safer To Have Beer Or Wine Instead Of A Cocktail?

A 12 ounce bottle of beer has about the same amount of alcohol as a 5 ounce glass of wine or a 1.5 ounce shot of liquor. It’s the amount – not the type — of alcohol in your drink that affects you the most, so it’s not safer to drink beer or wine rather than liquor if you’re drinking the equivalent amount of alcohol.

In other words, whether you have two 5 ounce glasses of wine, two 12 ounce bottles of beer, or two 1.5 ounces of liquor either straight or in a mixed drink – you’re drinking the same amount of alcohol.

Calories In Holiday Cheer

Beer

Beer (on average), 12 ounces: around 153 calories (different brands vary significantly)
Lite beer (on average), 12 ounces: around 103 calories (different brands vary significantly)

Alcohol And Mixers

The higher the alcoholic content (proof), the greater the number of calories:

80-proof vodka (40% alcohol, the most common type) has 64 calories/1 ounce
86-proof vodka (43% alcohol) has 70 calories/1 ounce
90-proof vodka (45% alcohol) has 73 calories/1 ounce
100-proof vodka (50% alcohol) has 82 calories/1 ounce

Mixed Drinks

When you start adding mixers, the calories in a drink can more than double. For one cup (8 ounces):

club soda: no calories
orange juice: 112 calories
tonic: 83 calories
ginger ale: 83 calories
tomato juice: 41 calories
classic coke: 96 calories
cranberry juice: 128 calories

Mixed Drinks

Mixed drinks and fancy drinks can significantly increase the calorie count. The following calories are approximate – bartenders, recipes, and the hand that pours all vary. Use these figures as a guideline.

Plain martini (2.5 ounces): 160 calories
Mimosa (4 ounces): 75 calories
Gin and Tonic (7 ounces): 200 calories
Cosmopolitan (4 ounces): 200 calories
Green apple martini (1 ounce each vodka, sour apple, apple juice): 148 calories
Bloody Mary (5 ounces): 118 calories
Coffee liqueur (3 ounces): 348 calories
Godiva chocolate liqueur (3 ounces): 310 calories
Vodka and tonic (8 ounces): 200 calories
Screwdriver (8 ounces): 190 calories
White Russian (2 ounces of vodka, 1.5 ounces of coffee liqueur, 1.5 ounces of cream): 425 calories
Rum and Coke (8 ounces): 185 calories
Chocolate martini: (2 ounces each of vodka, chocolate liqueur, cream, 1/2 ounce of creme de cacao, chocolate syrup): 438 calories
Hot buttered rum: 218 calories
Irish coffee: 218 calories
Eggnog, 8 ounces: 343 calories and 19 grams of fat thanks to alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar (recipes vary)
Mulled wine, 5 ounces: 210 to 300 calories from a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel

Approximate Calories in Various Wines

Champagne, 4 ounces: 76 calories
Red wine (burgundy, cabernet), 5 ounces: 125 calories
Dry white wine (Chablis, reisling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc), 5 ounces: 120 calories
Rose, 5 ounces: 100 calories
Sweet white wine (moselle, sauterne, zinfandel), 5 ounces: 140 calories
Port (about 20% alcohol), 2 ounces: 94 calories
Sweet dessert wine (tokaji, muscat), 2 ounces: 94 calories

Remember to drink responsibly.

It’s A Celebration: How Many Calories Will You Be Drinking?

December 14, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Are you indulging in celebratory cheer? Toasting to the New Year?

Just a heads up: all of those drinks can really pack a caloric punch. So, just like drinking wisely (and of course, not driving), don’t forget to factor in all those calories.

16% Of Calories?

The CDC released a report showing that adults in the US take in, on average, almost 100 calories a day from alcoholic beverages: around 150 calories for men and a little over 50 calories for women.

On any given day, 33% of men and 18% of women get some of their calories from alcoholic beverages and of those who drink, almost 20% of men and 6% of women get more than 300 of their calories. That’s equal to 2 or more 12 ounce beers, more than 2 and 1/2 glasses of wine (12.5 oz), or more than 4 and 1/2 ounces of spirits.

Of the people who drink, on any day they’re drinking they get approximately 16% of their total calories from alcoholic beverages – the same percentage of overall calories that children in the US get from added sugars.

A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer. Think about that when someone pours with a heavy hand. Odds are that five ounces of wine is far less than what you might pour into your glass and in most cases it’s hard to judge the amount of alcohol in eggnog or punch.

A Sampling Of Calories In Holiday Cheer

Alcohol has 7 calories a gram. Because alcohol doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract or your brain, it doesn’t fill you up the way food would. Consequently, you can drink a lot and still not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed). Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions; your resolve to not eat everything in sight often flies right out the window.

12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
1 1/2 ounces (a jigger) of 80 proof (40% alcohol) liquor has 97 calories and 14 grams of alcohol
Drinking light beer rather than regular saves about 50 calories a bottle
A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
An 8 oz white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories
An 8 oz cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat thanks to alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar
Mulled wine, a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel, has about 210 to 300 calories per 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added
One cup (8 oz) of apple cider – without any additives – has 115 calories
A mixed drink runs about 250 calories. Watch your mixers — per ounce club soda has no calories, tonic has10, classic coke has 12, Canada Dry ginger ale has 11, orange juice has 15, and cranberry juice has 16
One hot buttered rum has 218 calories
One Irish coffee has 218 calories
One cup of coffee with cream and sugar runs at least 50 calories (more if it’s sweet and light)
1 glass cider or sparkling grape juice has 120 calories
Champagne is a comparative caloric bargain at about 19 calories an ounce

For more hints and tips for handling celebrations get my book, The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

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Margarita Or Mojito? Is There A Difference In Calories?

August 12, 2011 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Mid-August. Time for vacation – and if not vacation, certainly some relaxing outdoor time, maybe with drink in hand.

Could a nice cold (or frozen) margarita or mojito be your drink of choice? You might opt to go with the tequila, citrus, and salt flavors of a magarita or the rum, lime, and mint flavors of a mojito — but is there a caloric and alcoholic content difference (alcohol has 7 calories a gram) between the two?

Calories And Grams Of Alcohol In A Margarita And A Mojito

Remember to look at the serving size. The stats given below are for 3.3 and 3.5 ounces – visualize the amount in a little more than two average sized (1.5 oz.) shot glasses. A whole lot of drinks are served in much larger glasses. They are the nutritional values for traditional margaritas and mojitos — without embellishments.

Margarita (3.3 fluid oz. cocktail glass): 153 calories, 0g fat, 7g carbs, 4.3g sugars, 583 mg sodium, 0.2g protein, 17.7g alcohol

Mojito — without soda water or mint garnish (3.5 fluid oz. old fashioned glass): 149 calories, 0g fat, 5.8g carbs, 4.5g sugars, 1mg sodium, 0.1g protein, 17.9g alcohol

What Are You Drinking To Toast The New Year?

December 30, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

So many of us toast to the New Year with drink in hand – alcoholic or not.

Here’s a quick primer so you can make some informed choices:

A standard drink is 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.
Nutritionally:

12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
1 1/2 ounces (a jigger) of 80 proof (40% alcohol) liquor has 97 calories and 14 grams of alcohol

Alcohol has 7 calories per gram but doesn’t fill you up the way food does, so you can drink a lot and not feel stuffed.
Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and your resolve not to eat everything at the buffet table often flies right out the window.
Eating something before drinking can help blunt alcohol’s intoxicating effects.
Drinking light beer rather than regular saves about 50 calories a bottle.
Mixed drinks and fancy drinks significantly up the calories. For instance,

A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
An 8-ounce white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories.
The alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar in a cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat
Mulled wine, a combination of red wine, sugar/honey, spices, orange and lemon peel has about 210 to 300 calories per 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added.

Watch your mixers — per ounce club soda has no calories, tonic has10, classic coke has 12, Canada Dry ginger ale has 11, orange juice has 15, and cranberry juice has 16.
And, if you’re toasting to health and happiness in the New Year with champagne – it’s a comparative caloric bargain at about 19 calories an ounce! To your health!

My very best wishes for a very happy and healthy New Year.

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