Every single gram of dietary alcohol has 7 calories, but alcohol is not considered a macronutrient. If you recall, a macronutrient is a type of food that is required in large amounts in the diet, of which there are just three: protein, carbohydrates and fat. Alcohol is not required at all. Still, alcohol is regularly consumed in most societies as we drink it to relax, socialize and celebrate. As it is non-essential, we do not set a target for it when setting up a nutrition plan. This doesn’t mean we can ignore it all together. There are a few things we need to know and consider when trying to reach our nutrition goals. 

Depending on various factors there may be some added health benefits to drinking small amounts, but the negative consequences when consumed in excess far outweigh any potential benefits.

Moderate amounts of alcohol consumption can promote over eating, especially of high fat foods. Inhibitions are lowered when people are drinking and it’s easier for goals to be forgotten. The empty calorie content of alcohol alone may cause people to over consume their daily caloric needs, leading to weight gain. When excess amounts of alcohol are consumed, the body may determine that the caloric demands have been met which can eventually decrease the demands for food, as often seen in heavy drinkers who eat very little. This along with the toxic effect that alcohol consumption has on the gastrointestinal tract can lead to poor, even malnutrition. Alcohol disrupts sleep and causes dehydration. This can wreak havoc on bathroom scale readings, showing a major sudden drop in weight the day after heavy drinking with a subsequent jump back up (sometimes even to a higher number) as soon as the body is re-hydrated.

Alcohol is made through the process of fermentation where yeast breaks down various forms of sugar into ethanol (which is the actual alcohol), carbon dioxide and water. Distilled spirits like vodka or gin are distilled to separate the ethanol from the water.[1]  Alcoholic beverages primarily consist of water, ethanol and various amounts of sugar. The calories in alcoholic drinks come from the alcohol and sugar and are considered empty because they contain no nutrients and do not promote good health.

If nutrition clients consume alcohol, the caloric value must be considered. Since we only set targets for and to track macronutrients we apply the caloric value of consumed alcohol to either their fat or carbohydrate targets. We do not apply alcohol consumption calories to our protein target, as protein is far too important.

If for example, 10 grams of alcohol is consumed, we know that 1-gram of alcohol equals 7 calories so in total the client consumed 70 calories. We must take 70 calories off our daily target of either fat or carbohydrate – the client can choose to take it all off one target or the other, or a combination of both. If for example, the client wanted to take the calories from their fat goal, we know that 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories so 8 grams of fat equals 72 calories. The client should eat 8 less grams of fat on this day to account for the alcohol consumption.

Luckily for us, our friends over at Working Against Gravity (WAG) have created an alcohol calculator that will do all the math for us, allowing us to choose whether we want to apply the alcohol to our fats or our carbohydrates. You can even download the calculator as an app. Find it here.

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[1] https://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_nutrition/article.htm#how_is_alcohol_made