Who doesn’t like an occasional cocktail on a night out? Unfortunately, cocktails are delicious and it’s often difficult to stop after just one. Given that most of us drink a significant amount of our total daily calories (more than 20%) and that a cocktail can easily clock more than 600 calories, it’s worth learning which cocktails are high in calories, which ones are low calorie and how to make your favorite cocktail a little less calorific. A few tweaks here and there to a cocktail can drastically lower their calorie content.
1. GIN / VODKA TONICCalories: 200 Ingredients: 2 oz. gin / vodka, 5 oz. tonic water, one lime wedge A lowish calorie drink you can make lower. Gin/ Vodka with SODA is seriously low-calorie. Gin/ Vodka Tonic contains sugar from the tonic water. It isn’t the most fattening drink, but it is deceptive. Lower calorie option: Gin/ Vodka with club soda. |
2. MOJITOCalories: 160 Ingredients: 2 – 3 oz. rum, 1 tsp. lime juice, 2 tsp. sugar, fresh mint leaves, club soda. Calories do not include the sugar water often used to sweeten the cocktail even further. This cocktail can be low-calorie and on the upside contains vitamin C (boosting your immune system) and fresh mint for the digestion. However, calorie content will vary markedly on how much sugar is used to sweeten the cocktail. There is a lot of variation. Lower calorie option: Speak to the bartender, ask him to go easy on the sugar or use a sweetener instead. |
3. COSMOPOLITANCalories: 150 Ingredients: 1 oz. vodka, 1/2 oz. triple sec, 1/2 oz. lime juice, 1/2 oz. cranberry juice. Calorie content does not include the syrup often used in place of lime juice, which is of course much higher in sugar. Low in calories and contains health-boosting cranberry juice. While not the most calorific cocktail, but easier to drink than the others. Can end-up drinking a few of these easily. Lower calorie option: vodka with (diet) cranberry juice. |
4. WATERMELON MARTINICalories: 125 Ingredients: 1 oz. Vodka, 1 ½ oz. Watermelon juice, 1 Watermelon slice Fruity, rejuvenating pink cocktail. Plus, watermelon is a high in lycopene, an antioxidant believed to help reduce your risk for heart disease. Also, this cocktail is one of those you can easily modify to make it healthier. |
5. DIET SODA WITH:Calories: 69
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OTHER LOW CALORIE COCKTAILS
- Flavored vodka (1 oz.) and soda: 65 calories.
- White Wine Spritzer (4 oz. white wine plus club soda): 80 calories
- Bloody Mary:90 calories
- Champagne: 100 calories
- Light Beer: 100 calories
LOW CALORIE MIXERS
- Diet soda or diet tonic: 0 calories
- Coffee /tea: 0 calories
- DaVinci or Torani’s sugar-free syrups: 0
- Baja Bob’s sugar-free margarita or sweet ‘n’ sour mix: 0 calories
- Light lemonade (8 oz): 5 calories
- Lemon or lime juice (1/2 oz): 10 calories
- Light cranberry juice (8 oz): 40 calories
- Light orange juice (8 oz): 50 calories
- Orange juice (6 oz): 84 calories
