Less calories in spirits?

[stumpy]

It has been suggested by a friend that there are less calories in spirits and that I would be better switching to drinking gin and tonics than draught beer. I have no idea here and would appreciate any views on the merits of this idea.

 

Thanks,

 

SD.

[Pom Michael]

Forget the tonic, much better is a whisky soda.

[dvarpala]

stumpdog said:

It has been suggested by a friend that there are less calories in spirits and that I would be better switching to drinking gin and tonics than draught beer. I have no idea here and would appreciate any views on the merits of this idea.

 

Thanks,

 

SD.

 

I've actually tried this as a method of losing weight, and it works.

 

G&T's substituted for draught bitter - gave it up though, as I like the ale too much.

The problem is, I tend to chuck down a couple of G & T's after the beer now.

 

So, calorie-wise, I'm worse off than before...feck.

 

[Guest lazyphil]

Read my sig, cant go far wrong

[MooNoi]

Hi Stomp.

Just found this on the web:

 

 

Nutritional information per 100ml of beer

Calories 32.0

Calories in pint of beer: 182

 

 

Nutritional information per 100ml of gin

Calories 222.0

Calories in serving of Gin (25ml): 56

 

Sure, less calories in gin, but as a glass of G & T is a lot smaller than a bottle of beer, you probably drink more G&T's than you would drink bottles of beer.

 

So unless you conciously "sit" on your G&T's and drink slowly, you will probably end up consuming the same amount of calories in a night's session.

And don't forget, you have to add the tonic, which also adds calories to the figure above. So you probably end up with more calories in a G&T than you do in a beer!!!

FlyP

[stumpy]

Hmmm, yes that was my feeling that with the G&T being so much smaller I would probably drink two for every beer.

 

At least I'm off the Baileys now as that stuff must be laced with calories.

[Khun_Kong]

While my caloric knowledge may be in severe dis-repute (see this thread) , here goes:

 

For equal quantities of alcohol, there is no difference in the calories due to the alcohol itself. There is about the same amount of alcohol in a typical cocktail, glass of wine and bottle of beer.

 

Therefore, calorie differences depends on what else is in the preferred poison.

 

Mixed coctails may have highly caloric extras (a pina colada, lotsa fat and carbs), or may be low in extras (scotch and soda, no fat, no carbs).

 

Beer, on the other hand is chockful of extras. Take heart that the proteins in beer provide some needed nourishment, as do the carbs, to a lesser extent.

 

Wine doesn't add too much in the way of extra calories.

[think_too_mut]

FlyP said:

Hi Stomp.

Just found this on the web:

 

 

Nutritional information per 100ml of beer

Calories 32.0

Calories in pint of beer: 182

 

 

Nutritional information per 100ml of gin

Calories 222.0

Calories in serving of Gin (25ml): 56

 

Sure, less calories in gin, but as a glass of G & T is a lot smaller than a bottle of beer, you probably drink more G&T's than you would drink bottles of beer.

 

So unless you conciously "sit" on your G&T's and drink slowly, you will probably end up consuming the same amount of calories in a night's session.

And don't forget, you have to add the tonic, which also adds calories to the figure above. So you probably end up with more calories in a G&T than you do in a beer!!!

FlyP

 

 

From my fitness days I still remember:

 

Calories from alcohol are "dummy" calories - they go into body heat and are sweat out. They don't make you fat, they don't go into beergut. What real calories (from so called "dry residual") are nothing to worry about.

 

It's a lifestyle of a boozer that fattens: prolonged sitting, physical inactivity, bad food, nibbling (for example, peanuts are 40% fat, chips the same).

 

Booze itself does not go after your body shape. Food and lifestyle do.

 

Soft drinks: calories from a can of coke, 350, come from sugar and they go into normal processing. Tonic, similar in calories and their source goes too.

[kamui]

As far as I know there are no "dummy" calories. Calories from alcohol will add to your daily calorie intake as well. And if you have a coke and some peanuts in between it will make it worse of course.

 

Concerning beer, there was (still is?) the theory that beer adds up even more since it contains hormones. Anyway there are many people with a beer belly but I have never heard of a wine belly.

 

By the way alcohol needs a lot of vitamins while processed by the body.

[think_too_mut]

To be even more strict: alcohol has nothing to do with your body weight. Yes, the calories coming from alcohol are called "dummy" = "thermal" calories. (nothing to do with "Thermae" other than the origin of the word)

 

You can live on milk or graze grass and survive but on beer or any booze you are dead.

Where did their "fattening" factor go if they can't keep you just alive?