The craft cocktail trend continues in full swing and shows no sign of slowing down for good reason. Craft cocktails are absolutely delicious and take the drinking experience to new heights. Distinctive ingredients such as fresh herbs, candied ginger, brandied cherries and bitters such as Amaro and Angostura add pizzazz and flair to distilled spirits. Aspiring mixologists carefully and beautifully prepare these cocktails, rubbing citrus rinds on the rim or muddling brandied cherries in a glass before pouring the drink inside. This careful preparation blends the flavors perfectly so that every sip strikes the right note. In comparison, regular cocktails taste passe and bland.
Unfortunately, the ingredients that give craft cocktails the edge also add a double whammy of extra sugar and calories to the indulgence of booze. Most regular cocktails like a gin and tonic or a greyhound contain just 1 kind of alcohol. But craft cocktails typically contain 2 or more types of alcohol, making them boozy affairs. Manhattans contain whisky or bourbon and sweet vermouth; Negronis take the alcohol content higher with equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth. Craft cocktails may go down easy but make no mistake: they are dangerous.
The excess calories and sugar puts craft cocktails on par with sweets and other unhealthy foods. The calories in a Manhattan rival those of one serving of vanilla ice cream. At 194 calories per drink, the Manhattan outdoes a 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream for 134 calories. An Old Fashioned has 169 calories, 19 more than a bag of chips. Keep in mind that the calorie counts of an actual drink might be higher as serving sizes and ingredients often vary. Imagine a night that includes 2 glasses of wine, 3 Manhattans and a craft beer for a grand total of over a 1,000 calories just in alcohol alone. It happens more often than it should.
It is worth noting that the human body does not store the calories ingested from alcohol. Instead, the body burns off the 1,000-plus alcoholic calories from a fun night's indulgence first. The body only begins to burn the food calories once all the alcohol calories are gone. This makes more food calories available for the body to turn into fat if the body does not burn them off. And everyone knows how difficult it is to burn off fat. Most trainers and nutritionists advise eliminating alcohol completely for maximum fat loss.
Alcohol's empty calories and judgement-impairing capabilities generally make it a bad choice for people who are watching their weight. Anyone struggling with losing weight should make sure they are not drinking any excess calories. It is easy to lose track of alcohol consumption in the festive moments of happy hours, parties and bar outings. Before long, these festive moments can morph into 1,000 calorie bombs from too many craft cocktails if one is not mindful. Add some late night sliders and fries to soak up the booze and eventually pack on the pounds. It's not pretty.
But people who enjoy their booze need not give up alcohol or even craft cocktails entirely. Evidence suggests that moderate alcohol consumption has some health benefits. Alcohol's empty calories may not be so empty after all. It might make sense to swap food calories for alcohol calories, assuming an otherwise healthy diet and no alcohol issues. For instance, order a craft cocktail instead of dessert after a nice dinner. In most cases the cocktail will contain less calories than the dessert and will not add to any lingering dinner bloat. Or ditch the 150-calorie afternoon bag of potato chips a nice 120-calorie glass of wine to enjoy with dinner. The craft cocktail trend need not wreck any diets and make you fat.
Unfortunately, the ingredients that give craft cocktails the edge also add a double whammy of extra sugar and calories to the indulgence of booze. Most regular cocktails like a gin and tonic or a greyhound contain just 1 kind of alcohol. But craft cocktails typically contain 2 or more types of alcohol, making them boozy affairs. Manhattans contain whisky or bourbon and sweet vermouth; Negronis take the alcohol content higher with equal parts gin, campari and sweet vermouth. Craft cocktails may go down easy but make no mistake: they are dangerous.
The excess calories and sugar puts craft cocktails on par with sweets and other unhealthy foods. The calories in a Manhattan rival those of one serving of vanilla ice cream. At 194 calories per drink, the Manhattan outdoes a 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream for 134 calories. An Old Fashioned has 169 calories, 19 more than a bag of chips. Keep in mind that the calorie counts of an actual drink might be higher as serving sizes and ingredients often vary. Imagine a night that includes 2 glasses of wine, 3 Manhattans and a craft beer for a grand total of over a 1,000 calories just in alcohol alone. It happens more often than it should.
It is worth noting that the human body does not store the calories ingested from alcohol. Instead, the body burns off the 1,000-plus alcoholic calories from a fun night's indulgence first. The body only begins to burn the food calories once all the alcohol calories are gone. This makes more food calories available for the body to turn into fat if the body does not burn them off. And everyone knows how difficult it is to burn off fat. Most trainers and nutritionists advise eliminating alcohol completely for maximum fat loss.
Alcohol's empty calories and judgement-impairing capabilities generally make it a bad choice for people who are watching their weight. Anyone struggling with losing weight should make sure they are not drinking any excess calories. It is easy to lose track of alcohol consumption in the festive moments of happy hours, parties and bar outings. Before long, these festive moments can morph into 1,000 calorie bombs from too many craft cocktails if one is not mindful. Add some late night sliders and fries to soak up the booze and eventually pack on the pounds. It's not pretty.
But people who enjoy their booze need not give up alcohol or even craft cocktails entirely. Evidence suggests that moderate alcohol consumption has some health benefits. Alcohol's empty calories may not be so empty after all. It might make sense to swap food calories for alcohol calories, assuming an otherwise healthy diet and no alcohol issues. For instance, order a craft cocktail instead of dessert after a nice dinner. In most cases the cocktail will contain less calories than the dessert and will not add to any lingering dinner bloat. Or ditch the 150-calorie afternoon bag of potato chips a nice 120-calorie glass of wine to enjoy with dinner. The craft cocktail trend need not wreck any diets and make you fat.