Calories in alcohol

Is quite surprising how many calories in alcohol there are. What we know as alcohol is formed by producing glucose from fermented yeast.

It's made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The percentage in a given drink depends on the length of the fermentation and the amount of yeast used. Alcohol is unfortunately generally quite high in calorie content.

This is especially true when it's mixed with sugared juice or soda. Even if the juice contains nutrients, your body is more likely to flush these out while trying to get rid of the alcohol in your system. This also puts considerable strain on your liver. It is recommended that women consume no more than two units per day while men shouldn't have more than three units.

Though it may be relaxing and enjoyable, booze itself has little or no nutritional value. As we drink it, we're able to consume more calories without feeling full than if we were eating it. The reality is that no matter how much you drink, you will still probably eat as much as if you hadn't been drinking. Also drinking beer, wine or spirits causes dehydration, which in turn can slow down your metabolism. This means you're less able to quickly burn up what you consume and more likely to store it as fat. The other problem is of course that drinking tends to lower our ability to even think about how much we're putting away. For many people, a night of heavy drinking followed by a calorie filled kebab or burger on the way home is par for the course. So it's not just a question of considering how much you drink but also how drinking effects your diet overall!

In this section we give a rough estimate for different types of beverages. It's not only the quantities you drink but also what you choose to drink that's important. Wines and spirits are made from fermenting fruits while beer is made by fermenting different types of grains.