What Are Low-Calorie Alcoholic Drinks and Side Dishes? What Is a Moderate Amount of Drinking?

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As adults, when we meet someone we are happy to see, many people naturally end up having a drink together.

In particular, people from other countries often say that Koreans especially like drinking.

Some people are even proud not only of drinking for a long time, but also of drinking a lot.

However, while drinking lightly can help liven up the atmosphere, excessive drinking can harm both the mood and your health, so you should be careful.

In addition, if you are on a diet, you need to be even more careful with alcohol.

Alcohol itself is high in calories, and the side dishes eaten with it are often high-calorie foods as well, so you need to be cautious.

Even so, if you are going to drink, it is better to follow a moderate amount of drinking and choose low-calorie drinks and low-calorie side dishes.

Today, let’s look at low-calorie alcoholic drinks and also check what a moderate amount of drinking is.

Misconceptions About Alcohol?

Before looking at low-calorie alcoholic drinks, let’s first find out why people gain weight from drinking alcohol.

On average, alcohol contains about 7 kcal per gram.

However, since alcohol, the main component of drinks, is not converted into body fat, alcohol itself does not have a major effect on weight gain.

If you drink, the calories consumed through alcohol can be quickly burned as energy through activity and changes in body temperature.

The problem is the food eaten with it.

Alcohol disrupts signals in the brain, and when someone becomes heavily intoxicated, self-control decreases, making it more likely to gain weight through overeating, along with the types of food consumed together.

Still, because some types of alcohol are inherently high in calories, you need to be careful with those, but if you keep low-calorie alcoholic drinks in mind, they do not have a large impact on dieting.

What Are Low-Calorie Alcoholic Drinks?

Wine

First, wine, based on red wine, is one of the low-calorie alcoholic drinks, at about 70 kcal per 100 ml glass.

In particular, red wine contains tannins and various other components, so when consumed in moderation, it may help prevent fat accumulation and promote calorie burning.

Champagne

Champagne is said to contain about 96 kcal per 140 ml glass.

Because champagne generally has carbonation, drinking it lightly may help promote blood circulation or aid digestion.

Liquor

Strong liquor types (whisky, vodka, tequila, gin, etc.) have a high alcohol content, but since they contain almost no additives, they can be considered low-calorie alcoholic drinks at about 100 kcal per 100 ml.

However, because they are classified as spirits, you should be careful when drinking cocktails made by diluting them and mixing in other additives.

Depending on the drink or syrup mixed in, the calories can increase, so you should pay attention to how they are consumed.

A representative cocktail made with liquor, such as a Long Island Iced Tea, is said to exceed 500 kcal per glass.

What About Soju and Beer?

Are soju and beer, which we can easily encounter and drink in everyday life, low-calorie alcoholic drinks?

Soju has 55 kcal per 50 cc (ml), so it is somewhat ambiguous to say that one glass is especially high in calories.

However, if you calculate it based on a 360 ml bottle, it amounts to more than about 400 kcal, so it is by no means low in calories.

Even more caution is needed with beer.

Beer has about 95 kcal per 200 cc, and craft beer may use more additives and carbohydrates for aroma and flavor, making it about 70 to 100 kcal higher than regular beer, so you need to be especially careful with how much you consume.

What Are Low-Calorie Side Dishes?

Then what kinds of side dishes are low in calories?

Side dishes commonly eaten with alcohol often include fried foods, soups, dried seafood, and meat.

These kinds of side dishes are generally high in calories and greasy, so you should be careful because they can interfere with digestion.

In particular, these side dishes contain a lot of sodium.

Foods high in salt make you thirsty, which can lead you to drink more alcohol.

Therefore, for low-calorie side dishes, it is better to consider foods with less sodium.

Fresh fruit has a high water content and is rich in various components, so it is said to help protect the stomach and the liver, which plays a detoxifying role.

White fish, in particular, is good as a low-calorie side dish.

White fish such as sea bream, flounder, and rockfish are low in calories and also low in fat.

So if you usually want low-calorie side dishes, sashimi is also a good option.

Today, we looked at low-calorie alcoholic drinks and side dishes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting the moderate daily amount of alcohol to 20 g for women and 40 g for men.

Therefore, the moderate amount of drinking varies by drink depending on its alcohol content.

​	Adult male	Adult female	People who cannot drink
Soju (based on 50 ml)	5 glasses	2.5 glasses	2.5 glasses or less (men) / 1 glass or less (women)
Beer (based on 500 ml)	2 glasses	1 glass	2.5 glasses or less (men) / 1 glass or less (women)
Makgeolli (based on 200 ml)	4.2 glasses	2.1 glasses	2.5 glasses or less (men) / 1 glass or less (women)

In particular, if you blush easily and get drunk quickly when drinking, it is better to be careful with consumption because you likely have fewer enzymes that break down alcohol in the body.

If you are in a situation where you have to drink, we recommend drinking only half of the usual adult amount.

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