# Does alcohol have calories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420 "2003-01-03T15:08:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/1 "2003-01-03T15:08:06Z")
I am wondering if alcohol has any calories. And if so, how many. I know that most booze has about 100 calories per shot. Whiskey, Gin, Vodka, etc. But, these drinks are about 80-100 proof which is 40-50 % alcohol. I would imagine that the 100 calories could be coming from whatever else is in the drinks that are giving it the flavor. If you made a drink with 0 calorie diet soda and pure grain alcohol would it have any calories? Grain alcohol can be bought in some states and is 195 proof. So, that’s about 97.5 % pure alcohol kids! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/2 "2003-01-03T15:12:39Z")
From [Indiana University’s Prevention Resource Center](http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/publications/iprc/factline/alcdoses.html#MEASURE): > [@](#): > > **Calorie Content of Alcoholic Beverages** > > One gram of ethyl alcohol yields 7 calories of energy when metabolized by the body. That converts of approximately 200 calories per ounce of absolute alcohol, or about 100 calories per drink equivalent (one-half ounce of absolute alcohol). The total calorie content of an alcoholic beverage includes the calories from the alcohol itself, and calories from other components of the beverage (residual sugars or grains in beers and wines, for example). A typical serving of regular beer yields about 150 calories (about 100 calories from the alcohol and about 50 calories from the residual carbohydrates). A typical serving of light beer has a lower alcohol content and less residual carbohydrates, so the total calorie content could be about 100 calories (about 80 calories from the alcohol and about 20 calories from the residual carbohydrates). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/3 "2003-01-03T15:45:03Z")
I seem to recall reading that calories from alcohol are not well absorbed, but I can’t remember where. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/4 "2003-01-03T16:01:29Z")
ultrafilter: Alcohol is VERY well-absorbed. The caloric intake of alcohol is one reason alcoholics don’t eat very much. They don’t usually need to, because the caloric intake from the booze is enough. (Not enough to be healthy; many alcoholics suffer from nutritional deficiencies when they sober up.) In fact (and I’m sure QtM will back me up), some alcoholics crave a LOT of sugar because the end result of alcohol metabolism is sugar. An old remedy for detoxing mentions Karo syrup for energy and stewed tomatoes for vitamins. I myself sobered up on chocolate milk because there was a lot of sugar in it to curb the jones for sugar, and milk is somewhat calming on its own. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/5 "2003-01-03T16:09:05Z")
Well, I really thought I might have been on to something there. Oh, well. I guess the only way to make a 0 calorie Gin and Tonic is not not put any Gin in it. BTW, my SO gave me the biggest :rolleyes: I have ever seen when hearing about my plan. I have no idea why. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/6 "2003-01-03T16:12:56Z")
A general rule - if it burns well, it’s got a lot of calories. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/7 "2003-01-03T16:16:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* > **ultrafilter: Alcohol is VERY well-absorbed. The caloric intake of alcohol is one reason alcoholics don’t eat very much. They don’t usually need to, because the caloric intake from the booze is enough. (Not enough to be healthy; many alcoholics suffer from nutritional deficiencies when they sober up.)** I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyLittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@CrazyLittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyLittle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/8 "2003-01-03T16:17:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*A general rule - if it burns well, it’s got a lot of calories. \*\* what’s the caloric content of a Halon fire extinguisher? ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/9 "2003-01-03T16:20:35Z")
Is this the real Debaser? 🙂 Long time, no see. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/10 "2003-01-03T16:22:59Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > > **A general rule - if it burns well, it’s got a lot of calories.** > > \*Originally posted by CrazyLittle \* > \*\*what’s the caloric content of a Halon fire extinguisher? \*\* I guess it must have negative calories. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/11 "2003-01-03T16:36:55Z")
I don’t know the fererence, but I found this: \*\*Alcohol contains calories, but drinking alcohol doesn’t lead to weight gain, according to extensive medical research, and many studies report a small reduction in weight for women who drink. The reason that alcohol doesn’t increase weight is unclear, but research suggests that alcohol energy is not efficiently used. Alcohol also appears to increase metabolic rate significantly, thus causing more calories to be burned rather than stored in the body as fat. Other research has found consumption of sugar to decrease as consumption of alcohol increases. Whatever the reasons, the consumption of alcohol is not associated with weight gain and is often associated with weight loss in women. The medical evidence of this is based on a large number of studies of thousands of people around the world. 5 Some of these studies are very large; one involved nearly 80,000 and another included 140,000 subjects.\*\* So perhaps the jury’s still out. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/12 "2003-01-03T16:41:57Z")
Ut! [Found the reference](http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/AlcoholCaloriesWeight/AlcoholCaloriesWeight.html). ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/13 "2003-01-03T17:04:06Z")
As a tangent. . . “Light” beer had been around for decades and was not popular until a PR guy decided “light” was referring to the calories, not the alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/14 "2003-01-03T17:39:52Z")
“In fact (and I’m sure QtM will back me up), some alcoholics crave a LOT of sugar because the end result of alcohol metabolism is sugar.” This doesn’t make sense to me. Why would you crave something that is the end product of something you are regularly metabolizing(if we are talking about an alcoholic)? Also alcohol is the end-product of sugar metabolism by yeast, yes? I’m not sure the equation is reversed for humans. In fact, I’ll look it up: > [@](#): > > When alcohol is consumed, it passes from the stomach and intestines into the blood, a process referred to as absorption. Alcohol is then metabolized by enzymes, which are body chemicals that break down other chemicals. In the liver, an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) mediates the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is rapidly converted to acetate by other enzymes and is eventually converted to ketone bodies. These may be metabolized for energy or converted to fat for storage in the body. from:[wilstar.com](http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/alcohol.htm) Many other sources don’t mention the coversion to ketones it seems, they skip it mention only conversion to fat or CO2+H2O. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/15 "2003-01-03T17:47:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Inky- \* > \*\*I don’t know the fererence, but I found this: > > \*\*Alcohol contains calories, but drinking alcohol doesn’t lead to weight gain, according to extensive medical research, and many studies report a small reduction in weight for women who drink. > > The reason that alcohol doesn’t increase weight is unclear, but research suggests that alcohol energy is not efficiently used. Alcohol also appears to increase metabolic rate significantly, thus causing more calories to be burned rather than stored in the body as fat. Other research has found consumption of sugar to decrease as consumption of alcohol increases. > > Whatever the reasons, the consumption of alcohol is not associated with weight gain and is often associated with weight loss in women. The medical evidence of this is based on a large number of studies of thousands of people around the world. 5 Some of these studies are very large; one involved nearly 80,000 and another included 140,000 subjects.\*\* > > So perhaps the jury’s still out. \*\* What causes beer guts? Pretzels? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/16 "2003-01-03T18:01:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*What causes beer guts? Pretzels? \*\* This is because beer is a high-calorie vehicle for alcohol intake, although I don’t have a cite handy. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/17 "2003-01-03T18:02:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*What causes beer guts? Pretzels? \*\* The question was **“Does _alcohol_ have calories”**. Beer has quite a bit of simple carbohydrates apart from alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/18 "2003-01-03T18:14:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CarnalK \* > \*\*“In fact (and I’m sure QtM will back me up), some alcoholics crave a LOT of sugar because the end result of alcohol metabolism is sugar.” > > This doesn’t make sense to me. Why would you crave something that is the end product of something you are regularly metabolizing(if we are talking about an alcoholic)? I think maybe **MsRobyn** means _recovering_ alcoholics. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/19 "2003-01-03T18:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Epimetheus \* > \*\*What causes beer guts? Pretzels? \*\* I can’t find a cite right now, but I’m sure it’s not the beer, it’s the life style. People who’re heavy beer drinkers, need a lot of beer to get a buzz from the alcohol. So quaffing ten pints a night is not unusual. This extends the stomach. The alcohol is also a solvent, which explains why many people have ‘the runs’ the day after drinking. So drinking lotsa beer, extends the stomach, and empties it. Next day hunger sets in. Serious hunger. Keep this lifestyle going, and you’ll end up eating too much food. Often junk food. I don’t crave carrots, when hung over, I crave Double Whopper Cheese w/ x-tra mayo, large fries, large shake and onion rings. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420/20 "2003-01-03T20:03:58Z")
Hmmmm, I may be on to something after all, eh **Inky-**. It would not be calorie free to drink grain alcohol but it would certainly be better for you than drinking the equivilent amount of beer or Gin. On a random note, I usually find that I lose as much as 5 - 10 pounds in a good night of drinking. Of course this must be all the water that I have robbed my body of by dehydration. So it doesn’t really count. After checking, I see that a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. I easily drink that much to kill a good hangover. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-alcohol-have-calories/146420.md?page=2)