Would showing the calories/sugar content on alcoholic drinks make people binge drink less?
Posted by pppppppppppppppppd@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 25 comments
I looked into how many calories and how much sugar was in some of my favourite boozy beverages and was shocked enough that I'll definitely be limiting my consumption more strictly going forward. Not sure why it isn't a legal requirement to show this like it is with food, but if it was I think a decent amount of people would feel the same and drink less.
Hungry-Falcon3005@reddit
No. I know how many calories are in a glass of wine and I still drink it. I don’t care about seeing calories in food either
Delicious-Cut-7911@reddit
It's not the sugar but the alcohol they're interested in
AdjectiveNoun111@reddit
Could drink Guinness.
It's the lowest calorie regular pint, clocking in at around 210 per pint
Or a double scotch would be about 100
OG_Flicky@reddit
It would make diabetics a lot happier
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Just discovered "skinny lagers", almost carb free. Tesco (utter twats) don't have them in the beer section but on the opposite side of the store in the gluten free section behind the pharmacy. Could be a game changer.....
DWOL82@reddit
Since a calorie is a measured and defined explicitly as heat energy, not the energy in food/drink in the context of human metabolism, no .
Humans do not store or use heat for energy, if we did we could just sit in the sun instead of eating. Calories are totally the wrong terminology, humans use chemical energy. Calories are the wrong currency, and trying to convert from one form to another introduces errors.
Because it’s the wrong currency, the only way it has any utility is to vastly under eat using it to swamp any errors which then causes other issues further down the line.
Add to that over 100 years of obesity journals showing CICO does not work for lasting weight loss.
Showing the nutritional information, yes, but not calories. This calories nonsense needs to stop.
Basic-Pangolin553@reddit
No I'll just eat less
rich_b1982@reddit
Eating's cheating.
LowerEntertainer7548@reddit
I doubt it
Immediate-Spray-1746@reddit
I would probably eat less.
Browbeaten92@reddit
I think it would make a difference. It's fucked they don't. Why dyou think they don't? Because the feckin booze companies know it would affect their bottom line. Duh.
D0wnInAlbion@reddit
I don't think it would make people binge less when they're having a big night out but I think it would reduce people having 'one or two' a few times a week.
I also think people would think about what they drink if they realised how many calories are in things like cider and wine.
Still-Reference138@reddit
I think it would, but I don't think it's necessary as people are already waking up to the fact that excessive drinking isn't great. Apparently, 1/3 of British under 30s don't drink at ALL.
Also, I think the pressure to drink isn't there as much. It's become acceptable to not drink or to drink less.
SylhetiG@reddit
No. Most people don't care and/or don't understand how cico works.
raccoonsaff@reddit
I don't think most people who binge drink alcohol are the type to care that much about calories - we're all aware the alcohol has calories in, but I don't think that is a factor for many people.
International-Bat777@reddit
Won't stop most people, but if it reduces alcohol consumption for some people, it's worth doing,
farfetchedfrank@reddit
Would it though? High alcohol drinks like gin and vodka have lower calories than lower alcohol beer.
AngelHeart1987@reddit
Cocktails though often have more calories than a full meal, my favourite cocktail is a Long Island and it can clock up to 700 calories. I’d definitely like the see calorie counts on cocktail menus, if I’m already out for dinner I usually don’t want to be adding another 2000 calories in cocktails.
Ben_JM@reddit
I really doubt it.
Everyone knows binge drinking is bad for your health, everyone knows that from how they feel the next day so I don’t think saying “this has a lot of sugar in it” will act as a deterrent because the decision has already been made to drink.
It could push people away from their sugary fruity drinks or beer onto spirits and soda though… which could be worse for alcohol consumption.
Kobbett@reddit
People who use any kind of drugs aren't going to be much affected by health warnings. They want the hit, not the lecture. Only casuals might be put off.
h00dman@reddit
I assumed they already were and I just wasn't looking 🤷
Martipar@reddit
No. If i'm going out drinking it's to be with friends and have a good time, i'm not going to worry about the calories. It's similar to pork pies, i don't have pork pies often but i'm not going to reduce the already rare occasions i eat them just because they are unhealthu, i know they are unhealthy, that's why i don't eat them often.
infintetimesthecharm@reddit
Would it fuck lol
hoody13@reddit
It might work for some people who are more conscious about what they’re eating and drinking but there would still likely be a lot of folk who’d carry on binging regardless
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