Alcoholic drinks are made by fermenting and distilling natural starch and sugar

Being high in sugar means alcohol contains lots of calories – seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat!

Calories from alcohol are “empty calories”, they have no nutritional value. Most alcoholic drinks contains traces of vitamins and minerals, but not usually in amounts that make any significant difference to our diet.

Drinking alcohol also reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy. While we can store nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat in our bodies, we can’t store alcohol. So our systems want to get rid of it, and doing so takes priority. All of the other processes that should be taking place ( including absorbing nutrients and burning fat) are interrupted.

With a pint of lager containing the same amount of calories as a slice of pizza, the calories soon add up

A pint of Heineken, 5% alcohol has 227 calories

A large glass of red wine, 13% alcohol has 170 calories

A Jack Daniels, 40% alcohol has 111 calories

Source: Drinkaware.co.uk