Liquor vs Non-Alcoholic Beverages for Health

Who’s the winner in the liquor vs non-alcoholic beverages health contest? Decide for yourself.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has calculated the nutritional content of beverages.

Liquor (distilled spirits) includes tequila, whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, brandy, etc. Virtually all are 80 proof or 40% alcohol. They contain no carbs, fats, cholesterol, sugars, or sodium.

CALORIES

The USDA reports there are 97 calories in a serving of any 80 proof distilled spirits. It also lists the caloric contents of a serving of each of these non-alcoholic beverages.

BeverageCalories
Prune juice182
Carbonated regular cola155
Grape juice (unsweetened)155
Apricot juice140
Lemonade131
Tangerine juice (unsweetened)125
Milk (2% fat)122
Apple juice (unsweetened)117
Orange juice (unsweetened)112
Grapefruit juice (unsweetened)94
Tomato juice41

With 97 calories, liquor has fewer calories than all but two of these non-alcoholic beverages.

CARBS

Distilled spirits also have no carbs. What about the other beverages? There’s no contest with any of them. These are their carb contents in grams.

BeverageCarbs
Prune juice44.67
Carbonated regular cola39.77
Grape juice (unsweetened)37.84
Apricot juice36.11
Lemonade34.05
Tangerine juice (unsweetened) 29.88
Apple juice (unsweetened)28.96
Orange juice (unsweetened)26.84
Grapefruit juice (unsweetened)22.13
Milk (2% fat)11.41
Tomato juice10.30

FATS

Distilled spirits have no fats. The other beverages? Here’s the listing of their fats in grams.

BeverageFats
Milk (2% fat)4.807
Apple juice (unsweetened).273
Grapefruit juice (unsweetened).247
Apricot juice.226
Grape juice (unsweetened).202
Orange juice (unsweetened).149
Lemonade .149
Tomato juice.122
Tangerine juice (unsweetened).098
Prune juice.077
Carbonated regular cola.000

Only cola competes with spirits in the category of fats. And with no fats, there is no cholesterol in either cola or spirits.

SUGARS

Distilled spirits have no sugars. Not so for the other beverages.

BeverageSugars
Prune juice42.11
Carbonated regular cola36.78
Grape juice (unsweetened)35.93
Apple juice (unsweetened)32.67
Apricot juice30.15
Lemonade24.65
Orange juice (unsweetened)21.81
Tangerine juice (unsweetened)21.17
Grapefruit juice (unsweetened)17.78
Milk (2% fat)12.35
Tomato juice7.09

SODIUM

Distilled spirits have no sodium (salt). This is the listing for other beverages. The sodium content is in milligrams.

BeverageSodium
Milk (2% fat)120.0
Prune juice70.7
Tomato juice24.3
Grape juice (unsweetened)12.7
Orange juice (unsweetened)10.0
Apple juice (unsweetened)9.9
Lemonade9.9
Apricot juice5.0
Tangerine juice (unsweetened)2.5
Grapefruit juice (unsweetened)2.5
Carbonated regular cola1.2

Liquor vs Non-Alcoholic Beverages: The Winner?

liquor vs non-alcoholicMost noteworthy, the US federal government has determined that the moderate consumption of alcohol is linked with better health and longer life than abstaining from it.

So consider the contents of the various beverages. Examine calories, carbs, fats, sugars and salt content. Then you decide the winner in the liquor vs non-alcoholic beverages health contest.