What is the Best Alcohol to Drink on a Diet?

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Sally-Anne Turner

What Is the Best Booze to Choose to Not Ruin Your Diet?

Most of us like a tipple from time to time but if you’re trying to watch your weight, what is the best booze to choose to not ruin your diet? Whether you’re following a structured medical weight loss programme or simply trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle, understanding the caloric impact of alcoholic beverages is crucial for long-term success. At Bodyline Clinic, we understand that social occasions and celebrations are an important part of life, and we don’t expect our patients to completely abstain from alcohol. However, making informed choices about what you drink can make a significant difference to your weight loss results and overall health goals.

The general rule if you’re trying to drink alcohol on a diet is to stick to spirits and low calorie or calorie-free mixers but how many calories are really in your favourite drinks? Beyond the basic calorie content, it’s important to understand that alcohol affects your body in multiple ways that can impact weight loss. Alcohol is metabolised differently to other macronutrients, and your body prioritises processing alcohol over burning fat, which can temporarily halt your weight loss progress. Additionally, alcohol can lower your inhibitions and increase appetite, making it much harder to stick to your nutritional goals when you’ve had a few drinks. This is why understanding not just what to drink, but how much and when, becomes essential for anyone serious about managing their weight.

When you consume alcohol, your liver focuses on breaking down the alcohol rather than metabolising fat, which means fat burning essentially stops until the alcohol is processed. This is one reason why regular alcohol consumption can significantly impede weight loss efforts, even if you’re staying within your calorie goals. Furthermore, alcoholic drinks often contain ‘empty calories’ – calories that provide no nutritional value in terms of vitamins, minerals, or other beneficial nutrients. For someone following a medical weight loss programme at Bodyline Clinic, where we carefully balance nutrition to ensure you’re getting everything your body needs whilst losing weight, these empty calories can make it challenging to meet your nutritional requirements whilst staying within your calorie allowance.

Beer

Known for being one of the more calorific drinks on the market, there are ways to drink beer on a diet without blowing your calorie count out the water, but it isn’t generally your best choice. Beer contains carbohydrates from the malted barley and other grains used in brewing, which contributes significantly to its calorie content. A typical pint of beer can contain anywhere from 180 to 250 calories depending on the style and strength, which is roughly equivalent to a slice of pizza or a small chocolate bar. When you consider that many people might have two, three, or even more pints during a social occasion, the calories can quickly add up to an entire meal’s worth or more.

Bottled beers are better if you’re watching what you’re intake because they’re pre-measured and the nutritional information is likely to be on the bottle but generally, a bottle of lager is around 139–140 calories, including Corona Extra, Heineken and Peroni which are all 139 calories per 330ml bottle. This pre-measurement is particularly helpful because it removes the guesswork involved with draught pints, which can vary in size and strength depending on the establishment. When you’re tracking your calorie intake as part of a structured weight loss programme, having this precise information makes it much easier to log your consumption accurately and adjust your food intake accordingly.

There are lower calorie options for bottled beers, including Coors Light that is just 116 calories per 330ml bottle and Skinny lager which is just 89 calories per 330ml bottle and gluten-free too! These lower-calorie options achieve their reduced calorie content through lower alcohol content and less residual sugar from the brewing process. Whilst they may not satisfy beer purists who prefer fuller-bodied brews, they represent a reasonable compromise for those who enjoy beer but don’t want to completely derail their weight loss efforts. Some craft breweries have also started producing lower-calorie options that maintain more flavour whilst reducing calories, so the market is expanding for diet-conscious beer drinkers.

Drink Aware explain how a pint of 4% ABV lager can contain up to 180 calories but also highlight how the consumption of alcohol tends to make cravings for greasy foods higher, making your night out much more calorific! This phenomenon is well-documented in nutritional science – alcohol affects the hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates appetite and food intake, making you more likely to crave high-fat, high-salt foods like chips, kebabs, pizza, and other typical late-night takeaway options. This is often where the real damage occurs for people trying to lose weight. You might carefully plan to have just two pints to keep within your calorie budget, but after those drinks, your resolve weakens and you end up consuming an additional 800–1000 calories in takeaway food that you wouldn’t have touched if you’d stayed sober.

At Bodyline Clinic, we work with patients on medical weight loss programmes to develop strategies for managing social situations involving alcohol. This includes planning ahead by eating a protein-rich meal before drinking to help stabilise blood sugar and reduce the likelihood of making poor food choices later. We also encourage patients to alternate alcoholic drinks with water, which not only reduces overall alcohol and calorie consumption but also helps prevent dehydration, which can be mistaken for hunger. For those using Mounjaro or Wegovy weight loss injections, the appetite-suppressing effects of these medications can help reduce the increased food cravings that typically accompany alcohol consumption, though we still recommend moderation and planning.

Wine

Another tipple we’re usually advised to avoid when watching your waistlines, is wine, but how many calories does your glass of white or red typically contain? Wine has been a staple of social gatherings and meals for thousands of years, and for many people, a glass of wine with dinner or at social events is an important part of their lifestyle. The challenge with wine from a weight loss perspective is that it’s very easy to underestimate portion sizes and therefore calorie intake. What many people consider a ‘glass’ of wine at home is often significantly larger than the standard 175ml serving size used for nutritional calculations, and restaurant or pub servings can vary considerably.

As a guideline, the following amounts of 13% red or white wine, such as Hardy’s VR Merlot or Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc, contain this many calories:

• 175ml – 160 calories
• 250ml – 228 calories
• Half a bottle – 340 calories

These calorie counts can vary depending on the alcohol content and residual sugar in the wine. Sweeter wines, such as dessert wines, late harvest wines, or some Rieslings, can contain significantly more calories due to their higher sugar content. Conversely, very dry wines with lower alcohol content may contain slightly fewer calories. The alcohol content is the primary driver of calories in wine – alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates and protein, making it nearly as calorie-dense as fat, which contains 9 calories per gram.

Rose wine is typically lower in calories, with a 175ml glass of a 12% rose wine, such as the Italia Pinot Grigio Rose, contains about 147 calories, the equivalent to half of a burger. However, it’s worth noting that whilst rosé might save you a few calories per glass compared to red or white wine, the difference is relatively modest. The more significant consideration is how many glasses you consume over the course of an evening. Two large glasses of wine can easily add 400–500 calories to your daily intake, which for someone following a calorie-controlled diet might represent a quarter to a third of their total daily calorie allowance.

For patients at Bodyline Clinic following our Phentermine or Diethylpropion programmes, we often recommend limiting wine consumption to special occasions rather than making it a daily habit. If you do choose to have wine, we suggest measuring your portions carefully using a measuring cup or marked wine glass, and accounting for those calories in your daily food diary. Some patients find that having a spritzer – wine mixed with sparkling water – allows them to enjoy the taste of wine whilst reducing the calorie content and making a single glass last longer. This can be particularly effective at social events where having a drink in your hand helps you feel part of the occasion without consuming excessive calories.