How Much Alcohol Is Too Much? The Surprising Truth About Alcohol, Weight & Your Health

Smart Health Key 11/12 – Limit Alcohol to One Drink Per Day

If you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, a beer with friends, or the occasional drink at a celebration, you don't necessarily need to give up alcohol altogether.

But if you're trying to lose weight, lower your blood pressure, improve your cholesterol or reduce your risk of lifestyle diseases, how much you drink—and what you choose to drink—matters more than you might think.

Alcohol provides kilojoules (kJ) or energy without providing the nutrients your body needs, and excessive alcohol consumption places additional strain on the liver.

It can also raise blood pressure and cholesterol and increase your risk of certain types of cancer. So, while an occasional drink may be part of your lifestyle, drinking more than your body can handle regularly doesn't do your health any favours.

The Smart Health recommendation is simple: if you consume alcohol, try to limit it to one drink a day.

And there's another reason to pay attention to your drinks: those kilojoules can add up surprisingly quickly.

The hidden kilojoules (kJ) in your favourite drinks

Let us consider brandy, whisky or rum.

Two double brandies provide around 1,200 extra kilojoules (kJ) every day. What most people don't realise is that just as protein, carbs and fat contain a certain number of kJ per gram, alcohol does too.

In addition, the kJ per gram of alcohol is closer to the number of kJ per gram of fat, than it is to the kJ per gram of carbs or protein. Actually, the kJ per gram of fat and alcohol is about double the number of kJ per gram of carbs or protein!

So, try to start seeing drinks like eating pure lard, which is very bad for your health.

When one of my clients, Jacques Van Zyl, started to take that approach, he started losing weight and keeping it off!

If those kilojoules are consumed on top of what your body needs, rather than replacing food or being balanced by additional activity, they can contribute to significant weight gain over time, as your body will always rather burn kJ from alcohol first, instead of burning the kJ from the food you eat.

Add cola to those drinks and the total kJ climb even higher.

Beer isn't necessarily the "lighter" option either. A typical beer contains around 600 kilojoules (equivalent to 2 slices of bread). Six beers add up to approximately 3,600 kilojoules (equivalent to 12 slices of bread!)

If you're having those kilojoules on top of your body's daily needs, they can quickly become a weight-management problem.

And then there are ciders and spirit coolers.

These can be particularly sneaky because you're getting both alcohol and sugar in the same drink, making them surprisingly high in kilojoules. If you enjoy them, choose a lite version where possible or keep them as an occasional treat rather than an everyday drink.

What about red wine?

This is where things get interesting...

You've probably heard that red wine is good for your heart because of its polyphenols. And there is evidence that the first glass of red wine consumed with a meal may have beneficial effects on blood cholesterol and circulation.

But that does NOT mean more wine = more health benefits.

The Blue Zone community of Loma Linda is an interesting reminder of this. People there are exceptionally healthy and don't drink alcohol at all.

Meanwhile, Sardinians in Italy and Ikarians in Greece traditionally drink red wine with meals and usually together with other people (not alone) and are also among the world's longest-lived populations. So, long-term health is clearly about more than whether you drink red wine.

The Smart Health approach isn't to tell you that you need alcohol to be healthy. You don't.

If you enjoy a glass of red wine with your meal, however, one glass can fit into a healthy lifestyle. Just don't turn the supposed health benefits of red wine into an excuse for a second, third or fourth glass.

Smart Tips for Alcohol Consumption

If you're going to have wine, there are a few simple ways to keep the kJ (energy) under control.

Choose lite wine where possible. Lower-alcohol and Zero alcohol wines contain fewer kilojoules than their higher-alcohol counterparts, something many people don't realise.

Be careful with sweet wines. You're getting kJ from both the alcohol and the sugar, so sweeter wines can contain considerably more energy than a dry red or white wine.

Dry wine is generally the smarter choice if you're watching your weight, because it doesn't contain the same added sugar found in sweet wines.

Most red wine is dry wine (with one or two exceptions), but dry white wines are wines like unoaked Chardonnay, Colombar, Sauvignon Blanc, Albarino, dry Chenin Blanc and Grand Cru.

Sweeter white wines are: Stein, Moscato, Riesling, Late Harvest and especially Special Late Harvest. Rosé wine can be dry or sweeter, so please be sure to check.

Champagne can be either dry or sweet, but Brut champagne is usually dry.

Port, sherry and muscadel are heavyweights when it comes to alcohol and sugar, but at least usually consumed in smaller glasses.

And if you want to make your wine last a little longer, try turning it into a spritzer by diluting it with soda water or Lite or Zero lemonade.

You can also fill your wine glass with ice before adding the wine. You'll still have something refreshing to sip, but you'll naturally reduce the amount of wine you're consuming.

One of the easiest ways to cut back on alcohol is to simply slow yourself down.

If you're at a party or social gathering, have a glass of water or a diet soda first, before you start drinking alcohol, as well as between alcoholic drinks. You'll stay hydrated, feel less thirsty and are likely to drink less alcohol overall.

Also don't start drinking on an empty stomach. First eat something, even if it's just a few vegetable crudites at a party, as one is also inclined to drink too much when you're hungry, apart from the fact that it can cause low blood glucose.

And if you're worried about what your friends will think, there's no reason you can't make your water look like a cocktail. Add ice and a slice of lemon or lime and nobody needs to know what's in your glass. If you really want to have some fun with it, tell them it's "vodka and water." 😉

You can also choose a rock shandy made with lite or Zero lemonade and a dash of spirits, or a shandy made with lite or Zero lemonade and a dash of beer.

The point isn't to make you afraid of alcohol.

It's to help you become more conscious of what you're drinking, how much you're drinking and what those drinks are contributing to your health.

Because when you're trying to build a healthier way of eating for life, you don't need to live in a bubble. You need to know how to make smart choices in the real world—including at dinner with friends, at a braai or barbeque, at a party, or when you're simply enjoying a drink at the end of a long day.

Alcohol doesn't have to derail your health goals. But it does deserve a place in your diet that reflects what it actually is: something to enjoy occasionally and in moderation, not something your body needs.

🌟 This is just 1 of the 12 Smart Health Keys to long-term health. They're simple principles, yet life-changing when you apply them!

Now take a look at Key 12 (Use Salt/Sodium (and Salty Foods) Sparingly) →

Scientific References:

Buettner D (2008): The Blue Zones: lessons for living longer from the people who’ve lived the longest. The National Geographic Society.

Corder, R, Mullen W, Khan NQ, Marks SC, Wood EG, Carrier MJ and A (2006): Oenology: Red wine procyanidins and vascular health. Nature, 566.

Seedat YK and Rayner BL (2012): South African Hypertension Guide 2011. SAMJ, 102(1): 60 – 83.

AUTHOR: ELIZABETH (LIESBET) DELPORT - Registered Dietitian, M.Sc. Dietetics.

Liesbet Delport has over 40 years of experience helping over 10,000 people improve their health through practical, evidence-based nutrition.

After struggling with her own weight as a teenager, Liesbet learned that lasting health isn't about willpower or another restrictive diet. Her approach is simple: people aren't failing, the diets are. She helps people build a balanced, delicious way of eating they can actually follow for life.