Recipes, Meals and Snack Ideas 

How do your festive drink choices stack up? With Christmas and New Year come parties, barbecues and family functions…. and alcohol! A standard alcoholic drink contains 10 grams of alcohol and varying amounts of kilojoules, depending on whether it is regular or lighter strength, straight or mixed with soft drink, juice or creamy mixers. So how can you enjoy a drink with family and friends without overdoing it this festive season?

A few simple tips can help you keep a lid on alcohol-related kilojoules this Christmas. For instance, choosing lower alcohol drinks such as wine spritzers, lower percentage alcohol wine such as Moscato or light beer and half nips of spirits means you’ll be getting fewer kilojoules (and less chance of a headache) compared to regular drinks. Also minimising creamy cocktails such as Pina Coladas, choosing low kilojoule mixers like soda water or diet soft drinks or asking for long drinks with plenty of ice will cut the kilojoules.

But if you can’t resist the regular stuff, here’s a guide to how many kilojoules they contain and examples of the activity you’ll need to do in the days after to burn off the excess kilojoules!

Alcohol Standard drinks Kilojoules Activity required to burn up kilojoules Stubby (375ml) of light beer 0.8 260 18 minutes of jogging 30ml nip of spirits 1 400 30 minutes brisk walking Middy (285ml) of full strength beer 1 440 20 minutes of cycling Stubby (355ml) of low carb beer 1.6 445 34 minutes brisk walking 160ml wine (average restaurant serve) 1.6 500 42 minutes of housework Stubby (375ml) of full strength beer 1.5 585 24 minutes of lawn mowing Alcoholic Soda (275ml) 1.5 700 48 minutes of jogging

Click here to browse the Healthy Eating section of the FNA store for some great recipe ideas.

For more food facts and useful information on the latest nutrition topics click here.