Making you fat: Alcohol's high caloric content
Kristin Vetrovec/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 9/24/09 Section: News
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This and other facts were presented Wednesday night at "Wasted Calories: Think Before You Drink," the third installment in the Six Pack series.
Sarah Gaines, the nutrition coordinator for the Health Education Resource Center, tested students on how many calories they thought were in drinks they consumed regularly.
She showed them how many empty calories are in typical beverages consumed by students.
A 12-ounce light beer typically contains 9 calories per ounce, or 118 calories for the whole beer.
One 5-ounce glass of wine has 100 calories, and one shot of Southern Comfort is 180 calories.
Other mixed drinks have an even higher calorie content. A 12-ounce margarita has 570 calories, a 12-ounce strawberry daiquiri has 660 and a Long Island iced tea has 789.
These numbers surprised many in attendance, including Rachael McDermott, a senior communication studies major.
"I always knew alcohol had a high calorie content, but never to this extreme," she said.
Consuming calories in a night usually doesn't stop with drinking, but the calorie consuming continues after the bars.
Gaines said students often enjoy late night foods, which typically adds on another 500-plus calories.
"Alcohol can stimulate your appetite and is often consumed in settings where food choices are high in calories and low in nutrients," she said.
Nutrition plays a large role in drinking habits, Gaines said.
"The more alcohol a person drinks the less likely they are to eat enough food to obtain adequate nutrients," she said.
Gaines emphasized that students should drink smart and make sure that if they choose to drink they do so on a full stomach and drink a lot of water before, during and after alcohol consumption.
"The most important thing to remember is that there is no nutrients in alcohol instead it helps to decrease your nutrition absorption," she said.
Six Pack is a series of six presentations about alcohol use in the college setting.
The fourth part will be on Wednesday with the topic of "Love, Sex and Booze: What You Have to Lose."
Kristin Vetrovec can be reached at 581-7942 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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