Quick rant about alcoholic beverages

It's been said before, and it will be said again, but...

Why aren't manufacturers required to put the calorie count on alcoholic beverages?  And why can't restaurants post the calorie count on their website?  I am very fond of nutrition information!  I want to know!  I don't want to keep making every day I splurge on alcohol a "cheat" day because I can't record it, even if I tried to factor it into my calories.  Grrrr...

And I know that I can give a good guess on most things if I know what goes in it, but sometimes a girl just wants the drink that looks like a milkshake, you know?  And while I could maybe make a guess, I've been surprised (both pleasantly and unpleasantly) a few too many times to think that there is much point to that anymore.

Sorry, I don't usually drink that much but the social opportunities have been very frequent these last couple of weeks (friend got fired COMPLETELY unfairly and needed cheered up, another friend finished his tour of duty in Afghanistan, another friend turned 21...) , and I'm getting sick of calling them "cheat days."  No, I can't just order a water or diet coke.  ;_;   I get really uptight if I'm the only sober person in a room full of happy tipsy people.

/rant

You can record it.  There are numerous websites with alcoholic drinks and calories.

Vodka & diet coke.

Available pretty much everywhere and only approximately 60 calories a drink so you don't have to feel too guilty about wasting calories on alcohol :)

But why aren't they required to put the ingredients and nutrition on the label, like every other frickin' food in the United States?  Even gum has nutrition information.

Just a rant.  I know the vodka and diet coke trick (or I usually ask for rum) but if I want to splurge and get something milkshake-y, I have NO way of knowing the calories. 

You know, I've wondered about that too - hell, they even have to put nutrition labels (at least ingredients) on lipstick because you're prone to ingesting it.  Why not alcoholic beverages?  Yeah, I can look it up... later... if I remember... but short of memorizing stats for alcohol before I go out, how'm I supposed to know what I'm eating?

I've heard Hugh Hefner's bunnies called vodka and diet coke, a skinny bitch... gotta love it!

If you like beer, michelob ultra has about 90 cal. per bottle. i think? (and they do have the nutrition facts, or at least the calorie content, on their bottles). and Corona is 120 cal (not on the bottle, but I google searched it a while ago to find that out). 

Vodka would definately be the best alcohol to drink when on a diet.

I would definately try to stay away from the foo foo drinks as much as possible since it is just not worth calling it a "cheat" day. A rule that I use is that the milky looking or "milkshake like" drinks like a mudslide prob have more calories than the clearer ones like a margarita. Im not sure if that is a good rule and feel free to correct me if i am wrong. (personally i stick to beer for the most part, which is alot of extra calories to take in when you need like 7-8 to be drunk and at other peoples level). Try planning ahead as much as possible and looking up the drinks that you know you are prone to drink.

Good Luck! Happy drinking :)

oh! and to answer your questions about why they are not labeled, it is because the FDA is the food and drug administration, beer is regulated by the ATF which is alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.

Original Post by shimmercat:

Why aren't manufacturers required to put the calorie count on alcoholic beverages?  

It's been proposed, but, of course, is being fought by the liquor/beer/wine companies):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101895.html?nav=r ss_opinion/columns

hey shimmercat

if you want to order the milkshake drink or daiquiri drink or whatever, ask your friendly bartender if you can check out the mix's label or bottle.  Unless they are really crazy busy they'll probably let you.  Ask if they use any other mixers in the drinks you are ordering and you can kinda add 1.5 ounces worth of alcohol calories to all that and there ya go.  If its a nice, organic or we-make-everything-home-made place, then you can ask what they put in your drink.  If its all fruit and juices, you can make a decent estimate when you get home (maybe the next morning :p ) 

bartenders are nice.  and sometimes bored, so just be friendly and ask politely.  if they are super super nice and helpful, buy your next drink directly from them and give em a little extra tip.  :)

Original Post by jackiel87:

Vodka would definately be the best alcohol to drink when on a diet.

A rule that I use is that the milky looking or "milkshake like" drinks like a mudslide prob have more calories than the clearer ones like a margarita. Im not sure if that is a good rule and feel free to correct me if i am wrong.

vodka, gin, rum and whiskey all have the same number of calories per ounce. I don't know about tequila. I think the brandies, liqueurs, and other weird sweet alcohols (like hypnitoq, tequila rose, absinthe etc) probably have more since they are so sweet.

about the milky-drinks having more calories than clear drinks, I wouldn't count on it. the clear drinks like margaritas, mojitos and some sweet martinis are full of sugar!! in fact, quite a few of them are made with simple syrup which is just water saturated with sugar so, I dunno. I'd check with the bartender about what kind of mixes they use. You are in luck if they actually use juiced limes as the sour part of a margarita--pretty much only really upscale places or idealist, organic kinda places do that.

You could just give up alcohol altogether like I did.  It's not hard...really...I swear...It's easy...AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I want beer!!!  I wanna drink Guinness all day and sing Sweet Caroline with a pub full of drunk people!

 

I feel your pain.

XD

I'm pretty sure that tequila would be about the same number of calories as all the other hard liquors. Is brandy sweet? I've actually never had it.

I'm usually a wine drinker, which is actually one of the healthiest alcoholic drinks you can get, and really not horribly high calorie. But when everyone else has the milkshake drinks, and I want one soooooo bad.... It's just frustrating that I'm at a chain restaurant and everything else I ate I can get the calories online, even the appetizer I had a couple of bites of. But the drinks... no way!

I've done horrible this week, period. Need to get back on track today!

u know, I've been thinking about this.  and, I know its not an effective technique when you have business dinners or go out, but how about having a fun party with 'everybody' (that likes the fun milky drinks) and make them at home.  You won't be able to avoid the calories in the alcohol, but you can use ice chunks, skim milk or vanilla soymilk, and add your own real fruit like strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or whatever then mix it all up in a good blender.  don't add any extra sugar (or maybe splenda if your into it) and you can mos def keep your calories in check and still have the fun milkshaky drink. 

plus, you won't have to drive home!! :)

I find this annoying too. One of my fave drinks is Christian Brothers Egg Nog (in the bottle, I'm guessing neither eggs nor milk had anything to do with this beverage--it doesn't taste like regular eggnog.). But I couldn't find the calories for it, so I didn't buy it last year. I mean, it just seems really inconsistent that a bottle of soda pop has calories on it, or  a bag of chips, or even a bottle of 100% fruit juice, but booze doesn't. I don't know why the liquor industry is against it, do they really think people will stop drinking if they know the calorie counts of stuff? 

Original Post by travija:

u know, I've been thinking about this. and, I know its not an effective technique when you have business dinners or go out, but how about having a fun party with 'everybody' (that likes the fun milky drinks) and make them at home. You won't be able to avoid the calories in the alcohol, but you can use ice chunks, skim milk or vanilla soymilk, and add your own real fruit like strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or whatever then mix it all up in a good blender. don't add any extra sugar (or maybe splenda if your into it) and you can mos def keep your calories in check and still have the fun milkshaky drink.

plus, you won't have to drive home!! :)

I live right outside of Washington DC so we usually Metro around anyways when we plan on drinking.  XD  Another plus for public transportation!

Yeah, I love mixing my own drinks at home!  Tequila sunrises are my favorite -- simple, not TOO bad for you, and so so so impressive-looking! 

Although I still wish that they required alcoholic beverages to have nutrition info!

I have come to love sangrias!!! they are only 160ish calories. Its Cabernet, brandy, and some fruit juices. Completely awsome. plus I find that wine gets me tipsier quicker. but then again im a light weight ehehe

in grade 10 (before i cared about my diet or even knew what a calorie was) i drank with friends EVERY weekend. now, i don't drink at all.

it's not worth the calories to me, getting drunk isn't even that fun and when i DO get drunk, i end up eating tons of junkfod anyways so i just steer clear of alcohol. but the vodka and diet coke is a good idea (i've tried it).

ok this should help with knowing how may cals are in a drink. makes me feel better when I want to go out and drink

 

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/drinkcalc

If you're going to drink an alcoholic beverage that is like a milkshake you really don't want to kow how many calories are in it, but you can find a guide for most common drinks, Daiquiri, Margarita, etc. online.  Don't you really want to know how many calories are in a Cookie Dough Blizzard when you absolutely have to have one?

I love wine - and tonight I have an 'after work' drink/dinner date with old coworkers - I'm actually going to tryyyyyy to have wine spritzers. (1/2 glass red wine, 1/2 club soda) - my question is - how many calories in standard fountain club soda???

how many calories in standard fountain club soda???

Zero.