If you’re at a fancy dinner with friends or simply dining at home on a Saturday evening, you might have the desire to give yourself a little treat. But, should you treat yourself with a glass of wine (or a drink of your choice) or that delicious cake you’ve been eyeing up on the menu?
Dessert or alcohol? Which is worse? There are a few things that you need to take into account.
The Calorie Content
First, let’s talk about the calorie content. If you are just having one drink and it’s a fairly regular drink (a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of liquor with some diet soda), the alcohol will almost always be lower in calories than the dessert.
These alcoholic beverages will range from 100-200 calories per serving, while with a dessert, you can easily be looking at 500-1000 calories per serving. Clearly, that is going to put a pretty big dent in your diet plan.
Now, if you are talking a fancy mixed cocktail like drink made with alcohol, a mixer, and syrup, then you could be nearing the 500 calorie range per drink, so that’s also a big issue if weight control is your goal. And, if you have two or more drinks, this can really add up fast. Not to mention, the alcohol mY weaken your willpower and cause you to eat more calories from food than you should, adding to your tally.
So first, consider what and how much you intend to drink versus eating that dessert.
The Nutritional Content
Next, also consider the nutritional content. Any way you slice it, there are no nutrients in alcohol. If you are drinking wine, you will get some antioxidants from the grapes the wine is made with, but beyond that, you really aren’t going to be getting much else.
With most desserts, true, they are made from sugar, butter, and oil most of the time, but you will still be getting some nutrition if dark chocolate is included with nuts or coconut for example. While the nutrition won’t be much, it still beats alcohol.
How Your Body Handles The Calories
Finally, also consider how your body handles these calories. With alcohol, as soon as you consume it, all fat and carb oxidation comes to a halt. So essentially you are putting the breaks on all fat burning until the alcohol is burned off. And, it’s very bad for your metabolism as well.
With dessert, you will keep burning fats and carbs only now, you’ve given your body a huge load of them, so chances are, it won’t be burning stored body fat any time soon.
So what’s the verdict? Which is worse? Generally speaking, if you can share a small dessert with a friend, that’s the best way to go over drinking alcohol. You aren’t putting a toxic substance into your body and halting fat burning. Alcohol can have very damaging effects on the brain and liver while sugar and fat are sugar and fat. Not that they’re healthy by any means, but in smaller doses, they aren’t quite so detrimental.
At the end of the day, the choice is yours but do keep these points in mind as you make your decision.
[Image via Getty]