If you enjoy a cocktail from time to time on social occasions or before a meal, you might be interested in the nutritional value of what you're putting into your body. Examining the hard nutritional facts for hard alcohol -- as well as their implications -- is vital to your health, whether you're an occasional imbiber or a regular drinker of liquor.
Absent Nutrients
If you're looking for a healthy drink, strike liquor from the list. Hard alcohol contains no vitamins or minerals, according to the National Institutes of Health. This may not come as a surprise, given the composition of high-potency ethyl alcohol -- essentially fermented sugars, starches and water -- which contains no beneficial nutritional value.
Caloric Boost
Although hard alcohol has no nutritional value, it can provide you with a quick burst of energy soon after you consume a drink, says the Missouri Department of Mental Health. This short-lived energy jolt -- which often contributes to the mistaken notion that alcohol is a stimulant, rather than a depressant -- is due to the universally high caloric content of all types of hard liquor. Health.gov says that 80-proof hard liquors such as gin, vodka, whiskey and rum contain an average of 96 calories per 1.5 oz. serving. These are "empty" calories, however, since they are not accompanied by any other nutrients.
Hard Alcohol and Fat
While hard alcohol contains zero grams of fat -- barring liqueurs with creams added -- it does pose a real risk of making you fat. Since the calories in hard alcohol are empty, your body may use them for energy instead of calories you've consumed from food. This causes the unused food calories to be stored for later use by your body -- as fat.
Considerations
If you drink hard alcohol higher than 80 proof -- or more than 40 percent alcohol -- you're going to get more calories, as you will if you drink distilled spirits mixed with sugary soft drinks. Also, bear in mind that mixing alcohol with fruit juices such as orange or cranberry juice does not add any nutritional value to the hard liquor itself, it simply adds vitamins -- as well as slightly more friendly calories -- to the drink.
Health Warning
While drinking hard alcohol in moderation is fine for most people, consuming three or more alcoholic beverages a day is a warning sign of a potential alcohol problem. Excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to malnutrition, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. If you or someone you know replaces nutritious meals with hard alcoholic beverages, talk to a medical professional for help.
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