Alcohol and weight

Alcohol can have lots of calories, so you may want to drink less or choose a drink with fewer calories if you’re trying to lose weight. Find out more.

If you’re trying to lose weight, cutting back on your alcohol makes sense. Having a few alcohol-free days a week is a good way to start feeling healthier without having to bother counting calories.

Alcohol contains around 7kcal per gram. One unit of alcohol is around 8g, which is 56kcal or the equivalent calories of one custard cream.

Remember that your drink or mixer may also have added sugars, increasing the number of calories it contains. 

Regularly consuming too many calories can lead to weight gain and therefore obesity, which is a risk factor for conditions such as heart attack and stroke.

Alcohol can also make you eat more than you usually would, or make less healthy food choices.

Drinks high in sugars

Be careful if you drink any of the following, as they can be high in sugars:

• low-alcohol wines (often have more sugar than normal ones)
• sweet sherries and vermouths
• sweet wines, like dessert wine
• liqueurs, like Bailey’s, Amaretto and Malibu

Go for soda water or tonic mixers rather than coke or lemonade, which are much higher in sugars or ask for diet versions.

If you drink a bottle of wine 6 times a month at 600 calories per bottle, that’s 600 x 6 = 3600 a month. An extra 43,200 calorie a year. Halve this to 3 bottles to save 21,600 calories a year while still enjoying a drink.