Boooooze: Enlighten me on alcohol's calories

Options
undergloom
undergloom Posts: 531 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Something I can never quite grasp is the finer points on how alcohol calories work.
For simplicity's sake, let's consider pure alcohol and put beer, wine, and drinks with umbrellas in them aside for a moment. No fat, no protein, no carbs, but it's got calories. Calories that can be used for energy.

Now I've read up on this a bit, and as I understand it:
-Alcohol has 7 calories per gram.
-Alcohol is not processed the same way that food calories are; rather, the liver and kidneys generally handle that stuff.
-There's a good chance that a portion of said alcohol is expelled from the body in the form of acetic acid. These calories aren't "available" in the same sense that, say, the calories from a donut would be.

But does this mean that the calories that aren't expelled can be used by the body for energy, and does the digestive system give a damn where that calorie came from?

I mean I'm not about to add alcohol as a macronutrient in my split, but I have sort of been under-eating this week due to not being able to get away from my desk, but also imbibing a little bit afterwards, and my obsessive nutrition tracking got me thinking about this. So my question - and please, this is more of a thought experiment because I will not be doing this habitually- but my question is, if I'm undereating and then have a few tequilas, is this:

a) just as bad as undereating,
b) worse than undereating,
or
c) a calorie is a calorie

...because I hear a lot of people saying that a calorie is a calorie, usually when critiquing a certain type of diet like low-carb. So if alcohol is also a calorie, and all calories are calories, then I guess I didn't really undereat, right?

Replies

  • undergloom
    undergloom Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the info. Calorie goal's about 1800 (500cal deficit from a BMR of 2300), and the last two days I've been hovering around 1000. I know! This is an aberration, I just had two nutty days at work so far these week and had to grab a quick lunch, and then worked through dinner before hitting a bar with coworkers so as not to be antisocial.
    It's really more a question of curiosity, something that was teasing my brain - how alcohol works into all this.
  • ancurtis
    ancurtis Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    Can't answer you specific question...but I drink 10oz red wine most nights. I budget in my goals and plan for it. I do eat, a lot as well, but I make sure that about 250 calories are left behind for my wine!
  • troy0
    troy0 Posts: 37 Member
    Options
    again, an anecdotal and unscientific tale to share; I've been maintaining for over a year and hover around the same weight all the time due mainly to awareness of what I eat and some activity.
    During summer I drank consistently for more that a week, y'know, so as not to be antisocial and all that ;). I calculated that each day I had been drinking my entire daily calorie allowance, some days a bit more, this is on top of my usual eating, so I was consuming at least twice my daily intake for around 10 days.
    I didn't put on a single Kilo as a result. Maybe I'm a special snowflake, or maybe you're looking at an option "d)" Alcohol does not count, alcohol calories are teflon, drink and be merry.
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
    Options
    I think MrM27 answered most everything and provided good general advice. And would reiterate his point re TDEE v. BMR and also that 1000 cals from food should be an aberration.

    I post only to add that alcohol has also been shown to reduce testosterone in some instances (which in turn can inhibit muscle growth should you ever have that as a focus). I am not convinced it is a large enough impediment to totally avoid booze, but I keep my eye on research related to the same (I enjoy a few drinks but also have training goals and I'm 40+ so I need all the help I can get!).

    Lots of available links on booze and its effects on body composition if you want more.

  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    Options
    Here's all you need to know about alcohol and weight loss:

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html
  • gwensoul
    gwensoul Posts: 87 Member
    Options
    Interesting article.
  • undergloom
    undergloom Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    zipa78 wrote: »
    Here's all you need to know about alcohol and weight loss:

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.html

    Excellent, thank you

  • undergloom
    undergloom Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    MrM27 wrote: »
    I'm assuming you meant TDEE and not BMR? 1000 calories I rather low and you're almost guaranteed to be lacking in the overall nutrition area. What's your age, height, weight and what's your training/lifestyle like?

    Oh yeah, you're right, my BMR is around 1800, and I tend to shoot for that with a 40/35/25 P/F/C macro split. I eat much more during the more active seasons, though.
    33 year old, 6'0" tall, 160lbs, male. Currently I'm fairly active, lift 3 days/week and 3 sessions on a bike trainer, and as a city dweller I do a lot of walking. In Spring, Summer, and Fall I'm extremely active. I eat at maintenance every winter and still end up kind of lumpy and unfit by Spring, so this winter I'm cutting more.

Categories