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alcoholic drinks

How Many Calories Will You Drink Over The Holidays?

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A glass or two of celebratory cheer – a toast 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.

A Drink Is …

A standard alcoholic drink (in the US) is a drink that contains the equivalent of 14.0 grams (0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol.

That’s the amount of pure alcohol usually found in:

  • 12 ounces of beer
  • 8 ounces of malt liquor
  • 5 ounces of wine
  • 1.5 ounces or a “shot” of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (gin, rum, vodka, or whiskey, etc.)

Will A Cocktail Affect You More Than Beer Or Wine?

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. Since it is the amount – not the type — of alcohol in your drink that affects you the most, it is not safer to drink beer or wine rather than liquor if you are consuming the same 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 are drinking the same amount of alcohol.

How Many Calories Are In Alcohol?

Alcohol doesn’t fill you up the way food does because it doesn’t register as “food” in your GI tract or brain.  Even though it doesn’t fill you up, alcohol does have calories — 7 calories a gram – more than carbs and protein, which clock in at 4 calories a gram and a little less than fat which has 9.  It may not feel as though you’re putting calories into your body, but the fact is you can drink a lot of calories and still not feel stuffed (perhaps drunk, but not stuffed).

In General:

  • 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 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/1oz
  • 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

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

  • club soda has no calories
  • 8 ounces of orange juice has 112 calories
  • 8 ounces of tonic has 83 calories
  • 8 ounces of ginger ale has 83 calories
  • 8 ounces of tomato juice has 41 calories
  • 8 ounces of classic coke has 96 calories
  • 8 ounces of cranberry juice has 128 calories

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
  • Mojito:  (8 ounces):  214 calories
  • Cosmopolitan (4 ounces): 200 calories
  • Skinnygirl margarita (4 ounces): 100 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
  • 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)
  • An 8 ounce white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories
  • An 8 ounce 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 in 5 ounces, depending on how much sweetener is added
  • One cup (8 ounces) of apple cider – without any additives – has 115 calories
  • 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)

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.

 

Liquid Calories and Holiday Parties

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So many of us toast to the holidays with drink in hand – alcoholic or not. Be smart about the booze, the mixers, eggnog, and cider and aim to keep your calories and your buzz under control.

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 most of us would pour into our glass.

Calories And 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 also lowers your inhibitions and your resolve not to eat everything at the buffet table 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

Margarita Or Mojito? Is There A Difference In Calories?

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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