Diet disaster: Few of us count 'liquid calories' when we're trying to lose weight, despite their high calorie content
Dieters are underestimating the effect of alcohol weight loss, with few realising that a pint of lager has the same number of calories as three chocolate biscuits.
The World Cancer Research Fund says forgetting the calories in booze is one of the top reasons for diet failure.
Yet cutting down on drinks could help people lose weight which, in turn, could reduce their cancer risk, it says.
Being overweight is the biggest cancer risk factor, after smoking. Drinking as little as one pint of beer every day increases a person’s risk of liver cancer and bowel cancer by about a fifth.
In the UK, more than 20,000 cases of cancer a year are linked to alcohol.
In the UK, more than 20,000 cases of cancer a year are linked to alcohol.
Now, the charity has produced an online alcohol-calorie counter which equates drinks to an easily understandable comparison.
For example, two 175ml glasses of wine is 248 calories - the same as eating three chocolate biscuits - and would take 52 minutes of walking to burn off.
Two pints of cider equals six chocolate biscuits - and would take one hour and 42 minutes of walking to burn off.
Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: 'The calories in alcoholic drinks account for a significant proportion of a drinker's calorie consumption while providing little, if any, nutritional benefit.
'Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
'Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don't include them when calculating their daily consumption.'
For example, two glasses of wine is 248 calories - the same as eating three chocolate biscuits - and would take 52 minutes of walking to burn off, say experts
She added: 'This is important from a cancer perspective because, after smoking, being overweight or obese is the biggest risk factor.
'There is also strong scientific evidence that alcohol itself is a cancer risk factor, possibly through damaging our DNA, in cancers of the breast, bowel, mouth, oesophagus and liver.'
While fat contains nine calories per gramme, few people know that pure alcohol comes a close second with seven calories per gramme, she noted.
Drinking alcohol has long been known to have a protective effect on the heart, but doctors say this is only really a benefit in men over 40 and post-menopausal women - and not in those who are overweight.
Meanwhile, Cancer Research has found that almost four out of 10 people break their New Year’s resolutions within a fortnight, while only one in 11 sticks it out to the six-month mark.
And yesterday the British Liver Trust warned a quarter of us may be suffering from the early signs of liver damage.
Liver disease, now the fifth biggest killer in the UK, has increased in the past year as British culture continues to embrace the daily consumption of alcohol and unhealthy food choices, combined with a sedentary lifestyle.
To use the World Cancer Research Fund's online alcohol calculator
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2255958/The-secret-weight-loss-Ditch-booze-dieters-told.html#ixzz2GqOGGWK0
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