You Booze, You Lose
There’s ongoing debate about how calories from alcoholic beverages are contributing to America’s expanding waistline.
And then there are studies showing health benefits from drinking moderate amounts of alcoholic beverages, such as reports that antioxidants and flavonoids in red wine can improve cholesterol levels.
But that’s not why most people drink.
After a long day at the office, construction site or at home with the kids, many Americans like to drink a glass of wine or bottle of beer in the evening. On weekends, drinking flavored beer or wine coolers may begin after the lawn is mowed.
But with 60 percent of Americans failing to engage in regular exercise, the calories consumed from alcoholic beverages can be a factor in the battle of the bulge and other health conditions.
Several factors may contribute to drinking more than the recommended amounts. Skipping breakfast and eating a light lunch can contribute to overeating and possibly drinking too much alcohol in the evening. Excess alcohol is defined as more than 1 to 2 regular servings of an alcoholic beverage per day. A regular serving is 4 to 5 fluid ounces of wine, 12 fluid ounces of beer or 1.5 fluid ounces (1 jigger) of hard liquor.
Another concern about consuming alcohol is how it affects blood sugar levels. Drinking alcoholic beverages without any protein and fat in your stomach speeds absorption of alcohol. Because your liver is processing alcohol at the expense of making blood sugar, you might experience a drop in blood sugar levels. Slowed response times, moodiness, slurred speech and loss of concentration from low blood sugar levels are similar to the side effects of elevated blood-alcohol content.
When drinking alcohol it’s important to make sure you have some solid food in your stomach.
Using alcoholic calories instead of wholesome foods to maintain or lose weight can result in nutritional deficiencies. For example, alcohol interferes with folate metabolism. Folate is important for proper fetal development in women, and helps protect cells against cancer in all people. Consuming breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack usually will keep a person’s alcohol intake to the recommended one to two servings per day.
If you don’t drink, don’t start - even if the “study of the week” promotes certain health benefits.
But if you do consume alcoholic beverages, next time you’re purchasing one, read the label to see how many calories you’re consuming.
You might be surprised at the lack of nutrition labeling on the beverages. In fact, unless an alcoholic beverage is labeled “light” or “lite” it doesn’t have to disclose its nutritional contents.
In the beer section, light beers contain the fewest calories and are generally slightly lower, about 3 to 4 percent, in alcohol content then regular beer, which are typically 4 to 5 percent alcohol. Light beers also contain the lowest levels of carbohydrate, about 3 to 5 grams, and 70 to 90 calories per 12 fluid ounce serving.
Common choices under 105 calories per serving include, Miller Lite, Coor’s Lite, Amstel Light, Bud Light, Molson Light, and Pabst Extra Light Low Alcohol Beer.
You may wonder, “If a light beer like Amstel Light contains only 5 grams of carbohydrate, totaling only 20 calories (each carbohydrate gram contributes about 4 calories) what makes up the remaining 85 calories?”
The only other identifiable source of calories shown on the nutrition label is 1 gram of protein, which, like carbohydrate, contributes 4 calories per gram.
The missing calories come from the alcohol, which contributes 7 calories per gram.
Nonalcoholic drinks are generally lower in calories than light beers due to their regulated one-half percentage point or less alcohol content. Carbohydrate content in nonalcoholic beers is slightly higher than regular beers, about 10 to 15 grams per 12 fluid ounces.
O’Doul’s is a popular non-alcohol brew with only 70 calories per 12 ounces, making it a low calorie nonalcoholic beverage.
Most regular American and imported beers contain more calories than light and nonalcoholic beers due to their increased alcohol content. Regular beers like Budweiser, Coors, Corona, Hamm’s, Miller, Schlitz, and Old Milwaukee contain 140 to 160 calories per 12 fluid ounces.
Words like malt liquor, dark beer, stout and ice, generally push the alcohol content into the 5 to 6 percent range, packing 160 to 180 calories per 12 fluid ounces. Examples of these power brews include, most regular microbrews, Colt 45 Malt Liquor, George Killian’s Irish Red Ale, Molson Ice, Sheaf Stout, Michelob Classic Dark, Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor, Murphy’s Irish Stout and many more.
Another popular source of high-calorie beer is flavored beers and/or alcohol malt beverages.
You’ll recognize them by their drink-me-I’m-full-of-fun-and-flavor names like Seagram’s Wild Strawberry Banana with untamed flavor, Bartles and James Strawberry Daiquiri, Hooper’s Hooch Lemon Brew or “Doc” Otis’ Hard Lemon and One-Eyed Jack’s “Pucker up baby!”
You can expect 170 to 200 calories and 5 to 5.9 percent alcohol in these sugar-boosted beers and drinks. The high sugar content in these brews will elevate blood sugar levels.
Like beer, wine choices are usually based more on flavor and aroma than calories. A 4-ounce (one-half cup) serving of your average red or white wine provides about 80 to 100 calories, and 1 to 3 grams of carbohydrate. Drier wines contain fewer carbohydrate sugars and calories.
Wine can legally be up to 14 percent alcohol, beyond that it becomes a dessert wine, having up to 24 percent alcohol and double the calories of regular wines. More alcohol means more calories.
Inglenook St Regis produces a line of alcohol-removed wines. Four ounces contain 25 to 40 calories and 6 to 10 grams of carbohydrate.
Now that you know how alcoholic beverages might be sneaking calories into your diet, keeping your consumption to two or fewer regular servings a day will keep blood alcohol levels safe and help you in the battle of the bulge.