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  • Drinking Your Daily Calories?

    • 08/08/2016
    • ADB
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    Drinking responsibly means drinking healthy.

    According to the U.S. Department of Health, the average male between 30 and 50 should have a daily caloric intake of 2,000 to 2,500. The average female of the same age bracket, given the same leverage for body mass and exercise regimen, should pull in 1,600 to 2,000.

    There is always talk about empty calories, but if you consider how just one cocktail can impact that number, much less two or more, it is no wonder we are all so overweight.

     

    Let’s have a look, shall we?

    Irish Coffee

    This legendary beverage comes in many forms, but let’s go with the original that was served back in the 1940s. It’s made from whiskey and sugar, along with coffee and cream “rich as an Irish Brogue,” according to Joe Sheridan, who allegedly invented it. A typical drink has more than a serving of alcohol and 220 calories.

    White Russian

    Anything made from sweet coffee liquor, vodka, and heavy cream is bound to be high in calories -- in this case 330 of them -- and alcohol (two servings).

    Mai Tai

    The drink that made little paper umbrellas famous. A couple of these ought to be quite enough. That’s because a standard recipe has two servings of alcohol and about 340 calories. Compare that to a glass of wine -- one serving of alcohol and 121 calories. Of course, if you’re lounging on the beach on a tropical island, a glass of wine might not cut it.

    Pina Coladas 

    You’ll knock back more than twice the alcohol per drink as your beer-drinking friends, not to mention 550 calories per 10-ounce drink. That’s about the same as a double-cheeseburger at your favorite fast-food place.

    Margarita

    If this is that frozen concoction that helps you hang on, you might want to rethink things. Frozen or on the rocks, a typical 10-ounce margarita has 740 calories and almost three servings of alcohol. Recipes vary, but if you get yours in a giant plastic sombrero at the local Mexican joint, what’s in your drink may not matter as much.

    Long Island Iced Tea

    Whoever came up with this drink must have had a few already. There’s no tea, but there is a bit of everything else: gin, rum, vodka, tequila, and triple sec. Add simple syrup, lemon juice, and cola, and you have the legendary “hangover in a glass,” with two and a half servings of alcohol and 780-plus calories. And be careful -- it can be easy to drink too many.

    Three of these gives you ALL the calories you should take in for the day with none of the nutritional benefits. And maybe a hangover.

    Better choices and how to make them come tomorrow.

     
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Drinking Your Daily Calories?

Drinking responsibly means drinking healthy.

According to the U.S. Department of Health, the average male between 30 and 50 should have a daily caloric intake of 2,000 to 2,500. The average female of the same age bracket, given the same leverage for body mass and exercise regimen, should pull in 1,600 to 2,000.

There is always talk about empty calories, but if you consider how just one cocktail can impact that number, much less two or more, it is no wonder we are all so overweight.

 

Let’s have a look, shall we?

Irish Coffee

This legendary beverage comes in many forms, but let’s go with the original that was served back in the 1940s. It’s made from whiskey and sugar, along with coffee and cream “rich as an Irish Brogue,” according to Joe Sheridan, who allegedly invented it. A typical drink has more than a serving of alcohol and 220 calories.

White Russian

Anything made from sweet coffee liquor, vodka, and heavy cream is bound to be high in calories -- in this case 330 of them -- and alcohol (two servings).

Mai Tai

The drink that made little paper umbrellas famous. A couple of these ought to be quite enough. That’s because a standard recipe has two servings of alcohol and about 340 calories. Compare that to a glass of wine -- one serving of alcohol and 121 calories. Of course, if you’re lounging on the beach on a tropical island, a glass of wine might not cut it.

Pina Coladas 

You’ll knock back more than twice the alcohol per drink as your beer-drinking friends, not to mention 550 calories per 10-ounce drink. That’s about the same as a double-cheeseburger at your favorite fast-food place.

Margarita

If this is that frozen concoction that helps you hang on, you might want to rethink things. Frozen or on the rocks, a typical 10-ounce margarita has 740 calories and almost three servings of alcohol. Recipes vary, but if you get yours in a giant plastic sombrero at the local Mexican joint, what’s in your drink may not matter as much.

Long Island Iced Tea

Whoever came up with this drink must have had a few already. There’s no tea, but there is a bit of everything else: gin, rum, vodka, tequila, and triple sec. Add simple syrup, lemon juice, and cola, and you have the legendary “hangover in a glass,” with two and a half servings of alcohol and 780-plus calories. And be careful -- it can be easy to drink too many.

Three of these gives you ALL the calories you should take in for the day with none of the nutritional benefits. And maybe a hangover.

Better choices and how to make them come tomorrow.

 
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