Two thirds of Brits have no idea how many calories are in their tipple

10 July, 2018, LONDON – finder.com press release

Over two thirds (68%) of Brits have no idea how many calories are in the alcohol they drink, according to new research from personal finance comparison site finder.com.

This includes an estimated 2.7 million Brits who think there are less than 40 calories in a pint, despite the actual figure often being more than 200. The survey found that millennials were four-times more likely to think this than baby boomers, and they also underestimated by the largest amount across all alcohol types.

In contrast, baby boomers tended to think there are more calories in alcohol than there really are. For example, their guess for the amount of calories in a shot of vodka was, on average, 112 - more than double the actual amount of 54.

Men are 20 per cent more likely to be clueless about the calories they’re drinking, even though they consume double the amount women do every week.

The average Brit takes on 94,380 calories from booze every year, or 1,815 a week, which could see them put on 27lbs (or 12.2kg) in weight over the year.

For those watching their waistlines, two surprisingly calorific drinks to avoid are sambuca, which has around 45% more calories than other common spirits, such as gin, and alcopops, which are the most calorific choice at 155 calories per unit of alcohol.

Your choice of mixer can also make a big difference. Opting for standard tonic rather than diet with your double measure of gin adds 53 calories overall and means that you’re actually taking in a similar amount of calories per unit of alcohol to beer (89 vs 85).

To see the calorie content of popular alcoholic drinks, with further surprising findings and analysis, visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/alcohol-calories

Jon Ostler, UK CEO at finder.com, said: “Healthy living and self-awareness have become more common, so it’s surprising to see the number of people who still lack basic knowledge about alcohol. We don’t need to become a nation of calorie counters or give up drinking altogether, but it’s important to understand that certain alcoholic drinks are as fattening as fast food. The average person drinks more calories per week than you would get in three Big Macs, but they don’t necessarily realise it’’.