Besides listening to The Pogues and wearing green, St. Patrick's Day revelers do a lot of something that's pretty rough on their nutrition ambitions. Want to enjoy without gorging? The Cheap Healthy Good blog has some reasonable draft and cocktail compromises.


Photo by Spiros2004.

Most relevant to the day at hand, the post notes that Guinness—the draught version, not so much the stout—has fewer calories than regular beer in similar amounts, and only slightly more than light beer. If mixers and liquor are more your thing, there are a few other suggestions on hand:

For starters, to chop your caloric intake, avoid these (drinks):

(Note: all serving sizes standard) Regular Beer (140–180 calories)

Malt beverages (Mike's Hard, Bacardi, etc.) (190-240 calories)

Rum and regular Coke (~350 calories)

Mudslide (~ 400 calories)

White Russian (~400 calories) .... And drink these instead: ... Light Beer (95-110 calories)

Guinness (12 oz = 125 calories)

Scotch, vodka, gin, or bourbon (~100 calories)

Rum and Diet Coke (~115 calories)

Tom Collins (~120 calories)

Sloe Gin Fizz (~120 calories)


It's not just choosing these drinks and learning to like them, of course. Learning to treat your beverage like a treat, or dessert, and training yourself to nurse instead of gulp are just as important.

How do you slow yourself down and keep a level head on a day like St. Patrick's? Share your war stories in the comments.

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A Quick and Dirty Guide to Lighter, Cheaper Drinks [Cheap Healthy Good]