Which alcohol contains the most calories and which contains the least? And most importantly, how does alcohol actually affect our body? Read on to find out what to have and what to avoid at your next party.
Alcoholic beverages are an interesting category. Even though alcohol itself contains no fats, sugars or proteins, it is calorically quite hearty. It is a bit of a nutritional paradox.
“Empty calories from alcohol do not aid in recovery or muscle gain, they only increase overall caloric intake. In addition, after drinking alcohol, hunger often sets in and inhibitions fall away, making it easier for many to sin,” says Monika Bartolomějová, chief nutritionist at World of Health.
Alcohol slows down burning
Also tricky is how alcohol affects fat loss. Simply put, alcohol is toxic, and moreover, when consumed, it significantly slows down or completely stops fat burning for a period of time.
According to a European Commission regulation, all food products should display nutritional and energy values per 100 grams or 100 millilitres. Soon this will also apply to alcohol. However, harmonised units of measurement for alcoholic beverages could be misleading for consumers. Although they all contain the same alcohol, they differ significantly in concentration, other ingredients and, most importantly, in the quantities in which alcoholic beverages are commonly drunk. Distillers therefore prefer to convert to a so-called unit of consumption.
So what to drink?
“The most common alcoholic drinks are beer and wine. Although wine contains more energy per 100 ml, most people drink more beer. So a glass of dry wine contains approximately 560 kJ, a large 10° beer (500 ml) contains approximately 775 kJ. And if one is at a party, let’s not kid ourselves, one rarely sticks to just one glass, thus increasing the energy difference. The tricky ones are sparklers with up to 430 kJ per 100 ml and vermouths with about 630 kJ per 100 ml. Beware of popular alcoholic mixed drinks, but equally avoid large quantities of fruit cocktails or non-alcoholic mixed drinks. Hard alcohol contains the most energy per 100 ml (rum 900 kJ, plum brandy about 925 kJ depending on alcohol content, vodka about 930 kJ, whisky about 1000 kJ, becherovka 1200 kJ per 100 ml) and sweet liqueurs (eggnog 1200 kJ, Baileys about 1300 kJ per 100 ml),” says Monika Bartolomějová, chief nutritionist at World of Health.
If we look only at the energy value, it is probably better to have a drink than beer or wine, but we cannot ignore the fact that wine contains a number of valuable antioxidants and beer contains B vitamins.
Include alcohol sparingly, sensibly and have what you like and what makes you happiest.
