If I’m going to drink alcohol, what’s the healthiest booze?

The question

I know all alcohol is bad from a health perspective but is one type of alcohol preferred over the other in terms of weight loss? I have a very weight conscious friend who's always drinking vodka sodas.

The answer

The calories in alcoholic beverages come from alcohol, which contributes 7 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram of protein and carbohydrate. Every 5-ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounces of hard liquor or 12-ounce bottle of light beer has roughly 100 calories (regular beer delivers 150 calories per 12-ounce serving).

Unlike dry wine and spirits, beer contains calories from alcohol and carbohydrate.

Many coolers – sugary beverages made mainly with vodka or rum - deliver at least 250 calories per 355 ml serving, more calories than you’d consume in two bottles of light beer. Some have as many as 310 calories and eight teaspoons of sugar per serving.

That's fine if you're having only one, but if you drink a few you could be gulping down more calories than your dinner.

And that certainly won't help weight loss efforts. Here's a look at how different drinks stack up in terms of calories:

Beer, regular (355 ml) 150 calories
Beer, light (355 ml) 95 to 100 calories
Rum and Coke (7.5 oz) 170 calories
Screwdriver, (7 oz) 175 calories
Cosmopolitan 150 calories
Vodka & Soda 76 calories
Vodka cooler (355 ml) 250 to 370 calories
Vodka cooler, light, (355 ml) 85 to 155 calories
Wine, red or white (5 oz) 105 calories
Wine spritzer with soda (5 oz) 50 calories

Here are a few more tips to help you keep your alcohol calories in check this summer.

Eat before you drink. If you drink on an empty stomach, the alcohol will be absorbed in your bloodstream faster, making you more apt to overeat.
Dilute the calories. Choose cocktails like vodka and soda, rum and diet Coke, or a white wine spritzer.
Limit yourself to no more than one drink per hour. Drinking more often will result in a higher blood alcohol concentration, not to mention a weaker resolve to eat moderately. To slow your pace, drink two glasses of water between alcoholic drinks.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on Twitter @LeslieBeckRD