Can alcohol be part of a healthy lifestyle? This post will teach you how you can fit your favorite cocktails into your lifestyle, plus seven of the healthiest alcoholic drinks.
If you're trying to lose weight, giving alcohol up may help for a number of reasons. Studies indicate moderate alcohol consumption may not affect weight gain but that heavy drinking can. Not only that, alcohol tends to carry empty calories (for example, there are roughly 150 calories in a 12-ounce beer and 120 calories in a glass of red wine), which can add to total calories consumed.
In this article, I want to discuss some lower-calorie ways to enjoy alcohol now and again as part of your healthy lifestyle. These options are chosen purely for their total calories, particularly total added sugar levels.
How Does Alcohol Affect Weight Loss?
Alcoholic drinks can be high in calories. And since many of these calories are empty calories, they don't have much of any nutritional value. Additionally, alcohol consumption can lead to overeating, which can lead to weight gain.
7 Healthiest Alcoholic Drinks
The following is a list of alcoholic drinks that are lower in sugar and total calories.
- Dry Wine (Red or White)
- Calories: 84 to 90 per glass
- Dry Champagne
- Calories: 65 per glass
- Vodka Soda
- Calories: 96 per glass
- Mojito
- Calories: 168 per glass
- Whiskey on the Rocks
- Calories: 105 per glass
- Bloody Mary
- Calories: 125 per glass
- Paloma
- Calories: 166 per glass
Just be mindful of the amount of alcohol you drink to avoid the excess calories and alcohol.
Charlene Rowe
I’ve been told by my MD liquor has sugar, but what I read here says it doesn’t as long as you drink it with water or seltzer .
AG
When talking about empty calories that applies specifically to the alcohol. Beer (outside of highly filtered domestics) actually contain a lot of nutrients. Hops contain a lot of polyphenols which, like in red wine, help reduce blood pressure by dilating arteries. Beer also has a lot of other nutrients that distilled spirits do not contain. Beer also has protein, which wine and spirits do not contain at all. I think it’s safe to say beer deserves a spot on the list!