How many calories are in alcohol?
Alcohol has seven calories per gram, almost as many as fat. Because it’s a drink, those calories are easy to forget. Here are typical figures for common drinks, from NHS and Drinkaware guidance. Brands vary, so treat these as averages.
| Drink | Calories | UK units | Seven a week, in a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pint of beer or cider | 200 | 2.3 | 72,800 kcal |
| Can of beer (440 ml) | 160 | 2 | 58,240 kcal |
| Glass of wine (175 ml) | 160 | 2.1 | 58,240 kcal |
| Bottle of wine | 600 | 9 | 218,400 kcal |
| Spirit and mixer | 100 | 1 | 36,400 kcal |
| Cocktail | 250 | 2.5 | 91,000 kcal |
Why alcohol calories matter more
Your body can’t store alcohol, so it burns it first and pauses fat burning until it’s gone. Alcohol also tends to make you hungrier and lowers your resistance to snacks, so the real calorie cost of a night out is often much higher than the drinks alone.
The UK guidelines
To keep health risks low, the UK Chief Medical Officers advise not drinking more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days. They also say there is no completely safe level of drinking.
Questions people ask
How many calories are in a pint of beer?
About 200 calories in an average-strength pint, according to NHS figures. Stronger beers have more.
How many calories are in a bottle of wine?
About 600 calories in a 750 ml bottle, roughly the same as a large meal.
Will I lose weight if I stop drinking?
Many people do, but not everyone. It depends on how much you drank and what replaces it. In one study, people who stopped for a month lost about 1.5% of their weight on average.
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