Do you know how calorific your favourite alcoholic drink is?
You may be surprised to find out three glasses of wine has as many calories as two cheeseburgers.
That is according to a calorie and unit calculator by the charity Drinkaware, which MailOnline readers can use by clicking here.
Health chiefs have long pinned alcohol health advice on drinking no more than 14 units per week to reduce the risk of a heart attack, stroke or cancer.
But regular drinking also increases the likelihood of becoming overweight or obese, which raises the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
14 units of alcohol in a week could look like two small 330ml bottles of beer, three 175ml glasses of wine and two double shots of spirit. That would be equal to 1005 calories, three and a bit cheeseburgers and more than 100 minutes of running to burn it all off, as the image of the quiz shows above
A cheeseburger, pictured right, has roughly the same calories as two pints of beer, pictured left. Six pints of beer clocks in at 13.6 units, 1092 calories, 3.6 cheeseburgers and 109.2 minutes of running, according to the Drinkaware quiz
The calculator reveals that a pint of cider has the most calories on average with 216 calories, which could cost you 20 minutes of running if you want to burn it off.
To burn off the calories in just one pint of beer, you would need to run for more than 18 minutes.
And if you drink three medium 175ml glasses of wine, that is almost the equivalent to eating one and a half cheeseburgers.
To burn that off you would need to run for 47 minutes.
Three large 250ml glasses of 13 per cent white wine, roughly the same as a bottle, is 9.8 units.
It also has the same calories as 2.2 cheeseburgers, which would take over an hour to run off.
Three large 250ml glasses of 13 per cent white wine, roughly the same as a bottle, is 9.8 units. It also has the same calories as 2.2 cheeseburgers which would take over an hour to run off
The drinkaware quiz, pictured above, helps you work out your weekly average by getting to fill out which days you drink and what you drink
The quiz calculates your total drinks from the week and tells you how many units and calories you have had. Above shows that 15.9 units, which is over the weekly recommended amount, can be 1274 calories. This amount of alcohol is also said to be the same as eating 4.2 cheeseburgers and if you want to exercise it all off you will need to run for 127.4 minutes of running
And the calories people consume through drinking alcohol are usually in addition to the calories people consume in the rest of their diet, rather than a replacement.
This means people could be having these so-called empty calories — which contain no nutritional value — without thinking about it, which will lead to weight gain.
The NHS recommends, as a guide, that an average woman needs around 2,000 calories a day to maintain a healthy body weight, while a man needs around 2,500.
Drinking alcohol also interrupts other bodily processes, such as absorbing nutrients and processing fat, as the body has to prioritise getting rid of alcohol.
This can lead higher levels of belly fat among regular drinkers — sometimes referred to as a beer belly.
Experts recommend drinking no more than 14 units per week to avoid consuming too many calories through alcohol. It’s also recommended to have several drink-free days a week.
14 units of alcohol in a week could look like two small 330ml bottles of beer, three 175ml glasses of wine and two double shots of spirit.
That would be equal to 1,005 calories, or three and a bit cheeseburgers, and require more than 100 minutes of running to burn off.
But, if you are drinking your weekly units in alcopops, with 14.3 units on average in 13 275ml bottles, you could be in for a shock.
Drinking this much is the same as eating more than seven cheeseburgers and comes in at 2,210 calories. That’s more than the average daily calorie intake for a woman.
The Drinkaware calculator says it could take you 221 minutes to burn this off.
In comparison, drinking seven double gins, which is also 14 units, is the equivalent to eating two and a half cheeseburgers. That is 770 calories and 77 minutes of running.
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