Did you know that a glass of wine has the same calories as a slice of cake or that a can of coke is equivalent to about 15 tsp of sugar?
Wine, beer, cider and spirits are all made by fermenting and distilling natural starch and sugar. Being high in sugar means alcohol contains lots of calories – seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat! A lot of people chose to ignore the fact that drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic contribute significantly to our energy intake. See below for a few examples:
Gin or vodka and tonic =126kcal
Dark rum and coke =142kcal
Large glass of white wine (250ml) =200kcal
Large glass of red wine (250ml) =180kcal
Bottle of wine (white) =600kcal
Bottle of wine (red) =540kcal
5% Lager (pint) =240-250kcal
Cider (pint) =180-250kcal
Stout (pint) =210kal
Bitter/Ale =180-230kcal
Liqueur (50ml) =100 -170kcal
Brandy (50ml) =110kcal
Whiskey (25ml) =55kcal
Mixed drink (Ready to drink) (275ml bottle) =160-228kcal
If we are to have an average of 5 drinks in a night just look at how many calories we would get:
Pint of Beer x 5 = 850kcal
Pint of Guinness x 5 = 1050kcal
Pint of Cider x 5 = 1050kcal
Glass of wine x 5 = 750kcal
Diet Coke x 5 = 0kcal
Club Orange x 5 = 700kal
Orange Juice x 5 = 590kcal
Pint Blackcurrant x 5 = 300kcal
Not only are the alcoholic drinks calorific, look at the calories we are getting from fizzy drinks as well…
A good alternative would be to choose a diet drink or simply squash or sparkling water with a dash of lime. Is it really worth wasting calories on a drink – there is way too much nice food out there to enjoy.
Now another point that is worth mentioning is the trip to the local chipper after a night out…..
Just take a look at how many calories we get from an average take away if your eyes can bear it:
Burger and Chips = 800kcal
Kebab = 650-800kcal
10”pizza = 800kcal
Average portion of chips = 600kcal
Taco Fries = 700kcal
For those of you who want to avoid those extra pounds over the festive period look how easy it is to save between 1500-2000kcal on one night alone (might I remind you that this is equivalent to an average daily allowance for most women and men).
And let’s not even talk about the day after the night before…
