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alcoholic beverages

Holiday Cheer Can Pack A Big Punch

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Liquor Beer Wine graphic

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?

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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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Do Your Drink Calories Equal The Calories In A Meal?

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You may really look forward to happy hour or that before dinner drink.  Time to relax and enjoy the company of friends or family.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  Unfortunately, it’s way too easy to underestimate or forget about the calories lurking in that glass.

Calories You Drink Don’t Fill You Up

When you drink your calories your body doesn’t actually feel satisfied. Except for perhaps milk or other protein drinks, fluid intake doesn’t typically trigger production of the hormones that tell your brain that you’ve fed your stomach.  Most liquid calories don’t produce “satiety” or the feeling of “being full,” which your brain takes as the cue to stop eating.

This is especially true if you’re slowly sipping your drink — but research has shown that even if the temporary bloat you feel after rapidly downing a beer is no substitute for satiety.

(FYI: even if you don’t feel full, the alcohol you’ve drunk still has 7 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates and protein and 9 calories per gram for fat.)

Beer:  Light Or Not

Even light beer – although a calorie saver – still has calories that add up. Light beer isn’t like diet soda – calorie and fat free. It does have fewer calories than regular beer but it still has, on average, 100 or more calories for 12 ounces (yes, there are light beers with fewer calories – these are average calorie counts).  Regular beer ranges from about 140-200+ calories, depending on the type of beer.

Alcohol And Mixers

An average shot (1.5 oz) of 80-proof alcohol has around 96 calories. The higher the alcoholic content (proof), the greater the number of calories.

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

When you start adding mixers, the calories can more than double.

  • 8 oz of orange juice has 112 calories
  • 8 oz of tonic has 83 calories
  • 8 oz of ginger ale has 83 calories
  • 8 oz of tomato juice has 41 calories

How Full Is Your Wine Glass?

Unfortunately, the standard serving of wine (5 oz)  and liquor (1.5 oz) is probably smaller than you think.

Most standard servings of wine have 125-150 calories, but the calories can double depending on the size of the glass and how far it’s filled up.  Sweet and dessert wines are more caloric than table wine and champagne.

Try filling up a glass –using water—to simulate the amount of wine you would usually pour, and then measure that amount in a measuring cup.  You might be shocked to find that the serving you’re used to pouring is double the standard serving size.

Fancy Cocktails May Be The Equivalent Of Dessert

Highly caloric, extremely creative, and often quite large cocktails can actually be desserts in disguise. Chocolaty, creamy, rim coated with sugar cocktails may be delicious, but they’re loaded with calories (even if they have fruit in them).

Jumbo and super-sized drinks with double shots and extra mixers could add up to 1,000 calories or more (a single giant glass of TGI Friday’s frozen mudslide has around 1,100 calories), so don’t forget to factor them in.

 

What Are You Drinking To Toast The New Year?

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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:
  1. 12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
  2. 12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol
  3. 5 ounces red wine has 125 calories and 15.6 grams of alcohol
  4. 5 ounces of white wine has 121 calories and 15.1 grams of alcohol
  5. 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,
  1. A frozen margarita has about 45 calories an ounce
  2. A plain martini, no olives or lemon twist, has about 61 calories an ounce
  3. An 8-ounce white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories.
  4. The alcohol, heavy cream, eggs, and sugar in a cup of eggnog has about 343 calories and 19 grams of fat
  5. 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.

I invite you to receive more healthy eating facts, tips, and trivia by signing up for delivery of My foodMAPs directly to your email inbox or RSS feed.  Just enter your email address in the box in the left hand margin (on the MyfoodMAPs home page).  While you’re at it, please sign up for my monthly newsletter, Eat Out, Eat Well.  I look forward to keeping you informed and entertained.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame . . . And Let Me Eat For Nine Innings

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Batter Up

Baseball season is in full swing. If you’re going to be at a game – major league, minor league, or little league – it’s become almost a habit to chow down on the food being hawked by vendors or purchased from the food court.

Listed below are examples of some snacks and drinks common to baseball games.  You might be surprised at the calories in some of your favorites.

SocialDieter Tip:

To avoid the caloric onslaught you can:

  • Choose your food wisely
  • Avoid eating every inning
  • Bring some of your own snacks with you
  • Drink water or non-caloric drinks
  • Eat and/or drink “lite” versions (just be aware that some reduced or fat free foods have just as many calories as full fat varieties – fat has been replaced with sugars

Game Time Food and Drinks

Beer

Bottle of Budweiser:  144 calories, 12.8 carbs, 4.7% alcohol

Can of Bud Lite:  110 calories, 6.6 carbs, 4.2% alcohol

Bottle of Miller Lite:  96 calories, 3.2 carbs, 4.2% alcohol

Bottle of Miller MGD 64:  64 calories, 2.4 carbs, 2.8% alcohol

Non-alcoholic Drinks

Snapple Orangeade (16 oz):  200 calories, 52g sugars

San Pelligrino Limonata (11.15 fl oz can):  1

41 calories, 32g sugars

Perrier Citron Lemon Lime (22 oz bottle):  0 calories

Vitamin Water Focus Kiwi-Strawberry (20 oz bottle):  125 calories, 32.5g sugars

Hint Blackberry (16 oz bottle):  0 calories

Can of Coke (12 oz):  140 calories, 39g sugars

Bottle of 7Up (12 oz):  150 calories, 38g sugars

Gatorade G Orange (12 oz bottle):  80 calories, 21g sugars

Root beef float (large, 32 oz):  640 calories, 10g fat

Water (as much as you want):  0 calories

Snack Food

Fritos (28g, about 32 chips): 160 calories, 10g fat

Ruffles potato chips (28g, 12 chips):  160 calories, 10g fat

Rold Gold Pretzel sticks (28g, 48 pretzels):  100 calories, 0g fat

Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn (28g, 1 ¾ cups):  160 calories, 10g fat

Cracker Jack (28g, ½ cup):  120 calories, 2g fat, 15g sugars

Curly fries (7 oz)  620 calories, 30g fat

Kettle corn (31/2 cups):  245 calories, 6g fat

Candy

Raisinets (1/4 cup):  190 calories, 8g fat, 27g sugars

Peanut m&m’s (about ¼ cup):  220 calories, 11g fat, 22g sugars

Snickers (1bar, 59g):  280 calories, 14g fat, 30g sugars

Large cotton candy:  170 calories, 0 fat

Ice Cream

Good Humor Chocolate Éclair (1 bar, 59g):  160 calories, 8g fat, 11g sugars

Fudgsicle Fudge Bar (1 bar, 64g):  100 calories, 2.5g fat, 13g sugars

Klondike The Original (1 sandwich, 81g):  250 calories, 17g fat, 18g sugars

Planter’s Dry Roasted Peanuts (1oz):  170 calories, 14g fat, 2g sugars

Blue Diamond Almonds (1oz):  170 calories, 14g fat 0 sugars

Planter’s Nut & Chocolate Trail Mix (1oz):  160 calories, 10g fat, 13g sugars