What is your cocktail really costing you??
Last November a data brief was released from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). They reported from a recent study that they conducted: Calories Consumed From Alcoholic Beverages by 11,000 U.S. Adults from 2007-2010. They used 24 hour dietary recall interviews to obtain information from adults who were ages 20 and older. The results are quite frankly shocking and I think we need to take a step back and ask... What is your cocktail really costing you?
The study found that 33% of men and 18% of all women consume calories from alcohol daily with about 20% of men and 6% of women consuming more than 300 calories from alcoholic beverages. The standard portion for an alcoholic beverage contained about 14 grams of alcohol. Here is the calorie count for the average drink:
- 12 ounces of regular beer (140 calories)
- 5 ounces of wine (113 calories)
- 1 1/2 ounces of 80 proof spirits (100 calories)
The report revealed that the drink of choice for men is beer and for women it is wine. The study also showed how the amount of calories factored by gender, age, and predicted yearly weight gain. Here are the charts they came up with.
| Men | ||
| Age | Alcohol Calories Consumed Daily | Pounds Gained Per Year |
| All ages | 150 | 15.6 |
| 20-39 | 174 | 18.1 |
| 40-59 | 157 | 16.3 |
| 60 and over | 96 | 10.0 |
| Women | ||
| Age | Alcohol Calories Consumed Daily | Pounds Gained Per Year |
| All ages | 53 | 5.5 |
| 20-39 | 61 | 6.4 |
| 40-59 | 60 | 6.3 |
| 60 and over | 33 | 3.4 |
Now consider this, calories obtained from alcohol are what we consider discretionary calories or "empty calories". These types of foods provide calories but few nutrients. Sugar and fat also fall into this category of foods. Ideally, discretionary calories should make up less than 15% of our total caloric intake. If you take the average from the charts, alcohol calories are making up about 16% of our total daily calories and that doesn't even include what we consume from fat and sugar.
Now, I like a beer or a glass of wine every now and again, but we must remember the amount of calories that comes from these drinks alone. I would suggest you head over to my article "The Smart Party Animal" to find some great tips on lowering calories and some great drink recipes.
Also, check out the full report from NCHS here: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db110.pdf
Bottom's up, Em
