Alcohol, calories, and maintaining a healthy weight

Most alcoholic drinks are higher in calories than people realise, so reducing the amount you drink can help you maintain a healthy weight. A pint of lager or a large glass of wine (250ml) can contain roughly the same amount of calories as half a cheeseburger.¹

Alcohol is high in calories. It contains around seven calories a gram – almost as many as one gram of fat. And the calories in an alcoholic drink aren’t just made up from the alcohol – many drinks are also high in sugar.²

Drinking alcohol regularly increases your likelihood of becoming overweight or obese, which contributes to your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.³

How the calories in alcohol can affect your weight

The calories people consume through drinking alcohol are usually additional to the calories they consume in the rest of their diet, rather than a replacement. That means you could be having lots of extra calories in your drinks without thinking about it, and that will lead to weight gain.⁴

The NHS recommends an average woman needs around 2,000 calories a day to maintain a healthy body weight, with an average man needing around 2,500 calories a day.⁵

For adults who regularly drink alcohol, it’s estimated that on average, nearly 9% of their daily calorie intake comes from alcohol.⁶ A good way to avoid these extra calories is to stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines. This means drinking no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.⁷

‘Empty calories’

Calories from alcohol are often described as 'empty calories', meaning they have no nutritional value because they are consumed in addition to the calories your body needs.⁸

Drinking alcohol affects the way your body processes fat for energy⁹ – while your body can store many nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it needs to prioritise getting rid of the alcohol because it’s toxic.¹⁰ When it’s prioritising getting rid of the alcohol, it interrupts all the other processes that should be taking place like absorbing nutrients and processing fat.¹¹

This means you are more likely to store fat around your middle – which is an area where men in particular tend to show weight gain, sometimes referred to as a ‘beer belly’.^12,13 This type of fat can be particularly harmful as it is laid down around the important organs inside the abdomen (belly), including the liver. Over and above the risks associated with obesity, this specific type of ‘central obesity’ increases your risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers.¹⁴

Calorie labelling

Alcoholic drinks that are more than 1.2% ABV (alcohol by volume) are not required by law to display calorie information on the label in the UK. While slightly more than half of these types of drinks don’t display this information, research by the Portman Group has found that almost half (47%) do.¹⁵

An exception is alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks with 1.2% ABV or less which are legally required to display nutritional information on the label.¹⁶ So, if you’re counting calories as part of your healthy diet or a weight loss programme, swapping to alcohol-free or low alcohol alternatives means you should always have the calorie information at your fingertips.

Alcohol-free drinks can actually contain a small amount of alcohol (up to 0.5% ABV), so most aren’t suitable if you want or need to avoid alcohol completely.¹⁷ Although alcohol-free drinks don’t legally have to specify exactly how much alcohol they have in them, most do. So, if you want to check, a good place to start is by reading the label and checking the ABV.

Since April 2022 in England, bigger chains of takeaways, restaurants, pubs, and online stores have to display calorie information for non-pre-packed food and drinks too – including all drinks with less than 1.2% ABV.¹⁸ Scotland and Wales have both consulted to bring in similar laws.^19,20

Some low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks are lower in calories, simply because they have less alcohol in them. But that isn't always the case as different drinks have different amounts of sugar and other ingredients – so check the label to make sure, if you’re trying to choose a low-calorie option. Don’t assume ‘low alcohol’ or ‘alcohol-free’ means ‘low calorie’.

Why binge drinking can lead to binge eating

If you find that you eat more junk food after a drinking session, you won’t be alone. That’s because drinking affects the hormones that control your appetite, as well as making you less inhibited and therefore less likely to make healthy choices.^21,22

Binge drinking is defined as more than eight units of alcohol in a single session for men and more than six units for women.²³ That’s equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman.²⁴

Research has also found that poor sleep can increase your appetite, and drinking alcohol can disrupt your sleep.^25,26

How to cut back on alcohol to maintain a healthy weight

Cutting back on alcohol and sticking within the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs’) low risk drinking guidelines (no more than 14 units a week) can help you maintain a healthy weight, as well as having other important health benefits.^27,28

A good first step is to track the alcohol and calories you are having – and it couldn’t be easier with the free MyDrinkaware app. It’s an easy way to log every drink you have and you can set personalised goals and review your progress to keep motivated on your journey.

Download the MyDrinkaware App