There’s little more tempting than a walk followed by a rural pub, your tipple of choice and a warming log fire in winter or a sunny pub garden in summer. The payback is that, as we all know, alcohol is no health drink; in fact, alcohol can contain a similar amount of calories as fat.
But fear not, as there are ways to navigate the late-night walk home without loading your back with fatty deposits. But first, a brief history lesson…
When did humans start drinking alcohol?
Humans and alcohol’s long and, at times, illustrious history stretches back millennia with analysis of organics preserved in pottery jars from China revealing that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit was produced over 9,000 years ago. Around the same time, wine and barley beer were made in the Middle East.
You can see with a scan of those ingredients that naturally an alcohol drink contains calories, but this is cranked up during the fermentation process, where yeast converts sugar into alcohol. The result is a warming, rounded flavour to your drink, but these are dead calories as, unlike carbohydrates, protein and fat, they contain no nutritional value.
On the positive, there is evidence that ‘light to moderate’ drinking lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. The physiological rationale is that nominal amounts of alcohol elevate levels of good cholesterol, which has been shown to protect against heart disease.
How much alcohol is too much?
It begs the question, how much is too much? The NHS recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across three days or more. That’s around six medium (175ml) glasses of wine or six pints of 4% beer. Which highlights that not all drinks are equal, certainly when it comes to piling on belly fat and general health.
Which alcohol drink is the healthiest?
If you’re looking to limit calories, you can’t go much lower than vodka or gin, partnered with a low-calorie mixer. Knock back a single shot of vodka beefed-up with a measure of diet cola and you’re looking at around 54cals.
A single shot of gin and slimline tonic’s around 59cals. A 25ml shot of whisky’s around 61cals, so if you refrain from a mixer, you should retain your six-pack. On the downside, a 2017 study revealed that spirits were more likely to be linked to negative feelings including tearfulness, plus around 48% of people questioned linking the tipples to feeling ill and nearly 30% to aggression.
At the other end of the caloric spectrum, pints of stout, cider, ale and lager all come in around 215cals. However, the higher the alcoholic content, the greater the calories with stronger pints around 250cals. That’s similar to a large glass (250ml) of red or white wine, though again this varies depending on the strength of its ABV (alcohol by volume).
Which alcohol drink is the most fattening?
In short, your trouser elastic is under greater threat of a beer belly if you drink great volume of strong drinks. Unfortunately, you’re also under greater threat of the beer belly as you age. That’s because you often become less active, your calorie needs go down and gaining weight is easier.
However, there is good news. There’s evidence that a glass or two of red wine each day can protect against certain cancers, which is down to the protective flavonoids and antioxidants. Stouts like Guinness are high in iron that helps to make the protein haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around your body. And even beer has its benefits, containing vitamin B6, which prevents the build-up of a chemical called ‘homocysteine’ that’s linked to an increased risk of heart disease.
If you’re watching your waistline, non-alcoholic beers are the way ahead with around 70-90 calories per 330ml bottle.
And what about pub snacks...?
As any committed pub goer well knows, you can’t talk drinks without talking pub snacks. Their high fat and salt content is the perfect partner to a smooth pint. But clearly not great for health. Pork scratchings are generally the worst offenders with around 400kcals and 35g of fat per bag.
The healthiest pub snack depends on the type of establishment you’ve found yourself in. If you’re in a fashionable part of town, go for popcorn or pretzels. They’re much lower in fat than crisps, nuts and the dreaded pork scratchings. If there’s no popcorn to hand, choose a small bag of peanuts. They’re still fatty and salty, albeit are packed with protein, so good for your muscles.
Or you could do as the ancient Romans did. Apparently, Pliny the Elder proclaimed it advisable that minions should line their stomachs with a meal of roasted sheep’s intestines before drinking. A commercial opportunity awaits…