Alcohol
Alcohol (ethanol) is the intoxicating compound in beer, wine and spirits. It gives 7 kcal per gram and no nutrient the body needs, and the WHO finds no level of drinking safe for health.
7 kcalin every gram of alcohol
14 g in one US standard drink, 10 g in many other countries
Safe amount · none found (WHO)
- Most per 100 g 10.8g Red wine
- Most per portion 19g 1 glass red wine
- Cleared by the liver ~7 - 10 g an hour nothing speeds it up
- Cancer risk Group 1 a known cause of cancer (IARC)
Sources: WHO and its cancer agency IARC. Drink figures per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central and CIQUAL.
Foods High in Alcohol
Ranked per 100 g, with what a usual portion gives, limited to 3 foods per category. Foods with a Caltide calorie page link to it.
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B
Per 100 g vs. a Usual Portion
Why the food that ranks first per 100 g can give less in a real serving.
| Food | Usual portion | Per 100 g | Per portion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red wine | 1 glass (177 g) | 10.8g | 19g |
| Beer | 1 can or bottle (354 g) | 4g | 14g |
Beer has under half the alcohol of wine per 100 g, yet a can of beer and a glass of wine end up close, because the can is twice the size of the glass.
What Alcohol Does in the Body
The alcohol in drinks is ethanol, made when yeast ferments sugar. It is on a nutrition page for one reason: it carries energy. At 7 kcal per gram it sits between carbohydrate and protein (4 kcal) and fat (9 kcal), but unlike them it brings no vitamins, minerals or protein.
The body treats it as a toxin to remove, not a fuel to store. The liver turns ethanol into acetaldehyde, a toxic compound that damages DNA, and then into acetate. While that work goes on, the liver burns less fat, which is one reason heavy drinking leads to a fatty liver.
The pace is fixed. A healthy adult liver clears about 7 to 10 g of alcohol an hour, a little less than one 14 g US standard drink, and coffee, water, food or sleep do not make it faster. Drinking faster than that raises the blood level, which is what causes the effects on judgment, balance and reaction time.
Why No Amount of Alcohol Is Called Safe
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the WHO, classes alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, the same class as tobacco smoke. It causes at least seven cancers, including cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, bowel and female breast. In the WHO European Region, about half of the cancers caused by alcohol come from light and moderate drinking.
In pregnancy there is no known safe amount either, because alcohol crosses the placenta and can harm the baby's development.
How to Work Out Grams of Alcohol From a Label
Labels give alcohol as a percentage by volume (ABV). To turn that into grams, multiply the milliliters by the ABV and by 0.789, the weight of 1 ml of ethanol, then divide by 100.
| Drink | Alcohol | US drinks | From alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottle of beer, 330 ml, 5% | 13g | 0.9 | 91kcal |
| Large beer, 500 ml, 5% | 20g | 1.4 | 138kcal |
| Glass of wine, 175 ml, 13% | 18g | 1.3 | 126kcal |
| Bottle of wine, 750 ml, 13% | 77g | 5.5 | 538kcal |
| Shot of spirits, 40 ml, 40% | 13g | 0.9 | 88kcal |
The large beer and the glass of wine both come close to 20 g, more than one US drink each, though the beer is nearly three times the size. The bottle of wine holds more than five.
A Day of Food With Two Drinks
One beer after work and one glass of wine with dinner, logged with foods from the Caltide library.
| Meal | Food | Amount | Alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Oats | 40g | 0g |
| Breakfast | Banana | 120g | 0g |
| Lunch | Hamburger | 145g | 0g |
| Lunch | Cola | 354g | 0g |
| After work | Beer | 354g | 14g |
| Dinner | Pizza | 119g | 0g |
| Dinner | Red wine | 177g | 19g |
| Total | 33g |
That is 33 g of alcohol, about 2.4 US standard drinks, and 231 kcal from the alcohol alone, before the carbohydrate in the beer and wine.
Alcohol and Other Nutrients
Regular heavy drinking drains several nutrients at once. It lowers how much thiamine (vitamin B1) the gut absorbs, and a severe shortage can cause Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a form of brain damage. It also interferes with how the body absorbs and uses folate, and it raises how much magnesium and zinc the kidneys pass into urine.
Hidden Sources of Alcohol, Including Supplements
Alcohol is not only in drinks. Beer sold as non-alcoholic can contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume, kombucha forms a little as it ferments, and liquid herbal supplements called tinctures are usually extracts made in alcohol, so a dropperful carries some. Cooking burns off part of the alcohol in a sauce, not all of it. If you avoid alcohol completely, check supplement labels for ethanol or alcohol as a solvent.
Common Alcohol Mistakes
Counting glasses, not grams. A large wine glass at home can hold 250 ml, which is close to two US standard drinks of 13% wine.
Forgetting the calories. Drinks do not fill you up the way food does, yet three 175 ml glasses of 13% wine carry about 375 kcal from the alcohol alone.
Sobering up faster. Coffee makes a drinker more awake, not less drunk. The blood alcohol level falls at the same pace either way.
When to Avoid Alcohol Completely
Alcohol has no daily need, so there is no amount to reach.
Who Should Not Drink Alcohol
- Pregnancy, or trying to conceiveno safe amount is known
- Under the legal drinking agethe brain is still developing
- Before driving or operating machineseven low blood levels slow reactions and judgment
Medicines That Interact With Alcohol
- Sedatives, sleep aids and opioidstogether they can slow breathing dangerously
- Acetaminophen (paracetamol)regular drinking raises the risk of liver damage
- Metronidazolecan cause flushing, nausea and vomiting with alcohol
Sources are listed at the end of this page. Ask a doctor or pharmacist about your own medicines. Not medical advice.
Tracking Alcohol in Caltide
- Grams, not glassesCaltide adds up the alcohol in every drink you log and shows the day's grams in the Nutrition tab. There is no target, because there is no amount to reach.
- Tinctures count tooIf a liquid supplement lists its alcohol, add it once with that as an ingredient. Each day you tick it off, it counts toward your total.
Alcohol Sources and References
The figures and claims on this page are checked against these sources. Food amounts come from USDA FoodData Central.
Questions About Alcohol
7 kcal per gram, almost as much as fat. Red wine in the Caltide library has 10.8 g of alcohol per 100 g, so a 177 ml glass carries about 19 g, or roughly 130 kcal from the alcohol alone.
Of the drinks in the Caltide food library, red wine has the most: 10.8 g of alcohol per 100 g, then Beer (4 g). Spirits hold several times more than either.
A fixed amount of pure alcohol, and it differs by country: 14 g in the US, 10 g in many European countries and in WHO materials, and 8 g in the UK, where it is called a unit.
No safe amount has been found. The WHO states that no level of drinking is safe for health, because the cancer risk starts with the first drink. Less is better at every level.
About 7 to 10 g of alcohol an hour in a healthy adult, a little less than one US standard drink, set by how fast the liver works. Coffee, water, food or a cold shower do not speed it up; only time does.
Not always. Beer sold as non-alcoholic can still contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume in many countries. A label that says 0.0% means next to none.
Yes. Regular heavy drinking lowers how much thiamine (vitamin B1) and folate the body absorbs and keeps, and it raises losses of magnesium and zinc. Thiamine deficiency in heavy drinkers can damage the brain.
Not by the current evidence. The WHO notes that no study has shown a heart or diabetes benefit from light drinking that outweighs its cancer risk, so it does not advise drinking for health.
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