Macronutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and fats provide us with nutritional calories that we need for energy. Alcohol, however, only supplies us with what nutritionists refer to as “empty calories”, meaning they have no nutritional value. And not only does alcohol provide no nutritional value but it also hinders our ability to lose fat.

Whenever the body consumes alcohol, alcohol becomes the first fuel to burn. This means your body will work to burn the alcohol before it is able to burn fat. So while consuming alcohol doesn’t completely stop weight loss altogether, it most certainly postpones it.

Alcohol contains seven calories per gram, almost twice as many as protein or carbohydrates. In fact, alcohol has only two fewer calories than fat, which has nine per gram.

Not to mention, when you’re consuming an alcoholic beverage, you are most likely taking in calories from other sources as well, which adds to overall caloric intake. If you’re drinking a rum and coke, for example, you have to factor in the nutritional content of the coke as well.  

In addition, certain cocktails contain high amounts of fats, while wine and beer both have high carbohydrate content. Carbohydrates release insulin that can accelerate fat storage and fats themselves will be stored directly in the fat cells, so these factors can result in added body fat as well.

Nutritional Facts broken down by Type

Total caloric content of various alcoholic drinks varies.

Beer generally has the highest number of calories, considering the smaller amount of alcohol it contains in comparison to its alternatives. Some other alcoholic beverages have more calories, no doubt, but they also have a higher alcohol content, making them a better choice calorie-wise since you would presumably be consuming less in one sitting. See the typical alcohol content of some popular adult beverages below.

• Beer: 5% alcohol
• Wine: 12% alcohol
• 100 proof liquor: 50% alcohol
• 80 proof liquor: 40% alcohol

Various liquors/spirits generally contain around 64 calories per nip, but these add up depending on the strength of the drink (for example, a double will contain two nips, or 128 calories).

Once you factor in the calories found in one glass of coke (around 180 calories), you’ll find that a typical bourbon and coke could supply 308 calories—double the number found in the average can of beer.

Liqueurs, such as Baileys Irish Crème, usually contain around 100 calories per nip. However, much like liquors or spirits, they are often consumed with other, often-higher calorie mixers such as coke or milk to make cocktails, bumping the calorie content way up.

Wine generally contains around 100 to 125 calories per medium sized glass.

See the charts below for nutritional info on many popular alcoholic beverages.

Beer and Wine

Liquors (40% Alcohol)

Liqueurs

What are the best and worst alcoholic choices?

The worst alcohol choices include any cream based drinks such as eggnog (340 calories without the alcohol) or an Amaretto Sour (includes tequila and orange juice and contains 421 calories).

The highest calorie cocktail of all would be the Vodka Mudslide, which contains coffee liqueur, Irish cream and vanilla ice cream and supplies 820 calories.

In terms of the healthiest alcoholic beverage it’s hard to point to just one, since there is so much variance, even between drinks with the same type of alcohol. However, as a general rule it’s better to drink a smaller quantity of liqueur with a healthier, lower calorie base such as trim milk or tomato juice.

Sources:

“5 Reasons Why Alcohol May Be Sabotaging Your Fat Loss.” Lean Machine Nutrition, 17 Aug. 2016, www.leanmachinenutrition.com/blog/2016/8/17/5-reasons-why-alcohol-may-be-sabotaging-your-fat-loss.

Robson, David. “5 Ways Alcohol Hinders Fat Loss!” Bodybuilding.com, 21 Aug. 2017, www.bodybuilding.com/content/5-ways-alcohol-hinders-fat-loss.html.