Calorie-conscious people might wonder if they can enjoy an alcoholic beverage or if imbibing will wreck their healthy patterns of eating. Yes, alcoholic beverages are a source of empty calories, but when it comes to incorporating alcohol into your diet, experts stress moderation.
“When we get too restrictive with our diet, it just increases the chances of us eventually bingeing or throwing in the towel,” Abbey Sharp, a dietitian and founder of Abbey’s Kitchen, tells TODAY.com. “Alcohol — the same as any kind of ‘fun’ food in our diet that maybe is not contributing to nutrition or satiety — may be a contributing factor to emotional satisfaction in life, enjoyment and pleasure.”
But not all cocktails are created equal when it comes to calories. For those who are worried about excess calories, the experts say it’s best to stick with certain drinks.
Lowest calorie alcohol
Most alcohol, whether it’s vodka, red wine, hard seltzers or cider, have about the same caloric load, about 100 calories per serving. Serving size vary among alcohol type. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drink servings are:
- 12 oz. of regular or light beer
- 5 oz. of wine
- 1.5 oz. of distilled spirits
It’s often mixers, such as simple syrup, coconut crème, juice or margarita mixes, that make a drink higher in calories. Some cocktails can have as many as 400 calories in them, Sharp says.
“It’s not the alcohol itself, but often it’s the things we add (that increase the calories),” Sharp says. “Alcoholic drinks should still feel like a bit of a novelty that they were added to the diet because it is enjoyable, pleasurable and fun.”
People might rationalize that a martini, which has fewer mixers, is lower in calories. But each serving of alcohol in a cocktail adds calories to it.
“If you’re going to make something like a Long Island iced tea, you’ve got four different alcohols. Each one of those would provide at least 100 calories,”…
Read the full article here
