Food & Recipes

Diet Busters: 10 High-Calorie Holiday Drinks

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350 calories

34 g carbohydrate

19 g fat

11 g saturated fat

149 mg cholesterol

8. Hot Chocolate (coffeehouse), made with steamed milk, mocha syrup, vanilla syrup, and whipped cream)

Per 12-ounce serving:

320 calories

38 g carbohydrate

16 g fat

9 g saturated fat

50 mg cholesterol

9. Mud Slide, made with vodka, Kahlua, Bailey's Irish cream, and half-and-half.

Per 4-ounce serving:

295 calories

20 g carbohydrate

8 g fat

5 g saturated fat

15 mg cholesterol

10. Brandy Alexander, made with brandy, dark creme de cacao, and half-and-half.

Per 4-ounce serving:

246 calories

8 g carbohydrate

9 g fat

6 g saturated fat

20 mg cholesterol

A Few More Favorite Holiday Drinks

Champagne is the classic toast at many holiday parties, and martinis are another popular standby. But Matt Raftree, beverage and bakery operations manager for Cheesecake Factory Inc., says the Mojito is, across the board, their top bar beverage.

While these aren't the highest-calorie drinks around, it's still essential to watch your portions. One drink won't break the 200-calorie mark, but two or three will put you quickly in the 360- to 540-calorie range.

Here's the rundown:

Martini

Per typical serving (2 1/2 ounces gin, 1/2 ounce vermouth, 1 cup ice, and 1 green olive):

185 calories

1 g carbohydrate

0.5 g fat

0 g saturated fat

0 mg cholesterol

Champagne

Per 1-cup serving:

182 calories

5 g carbohydrate

0 g fat

0 g saturated fat

0 mg cholesterol

Mojito

Per typical serving (1 1/2 ounces rum, 4 1/2 ounces club soda, 1/2 lime, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar):

180 calories

22 g carbohydrate

0 g fat

0 g saturated fat

0 mg cholesterol

When it comes to alcoholic drinks in general, Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, advises: "Don't drink on an empty stomach!" To cut calories, she also recommends drinking a no-calorie beverage in between your alcoholic drinks (like water, coffee, tea or diet soda).

Holiday Drinks Without All the Calories

The good news is that you can now find lower-calorie versions of many classic holiday drinks. Here are three options:

Light Lattes

For every high-calorie latte, there's usually a lighter latte. Take the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, for example. Order the 12-ounce pumpkin spice latte with nonfat milk and no whipped cream and suddenly you're talking about just 200 calories, 0 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, and 38 grams of carbohydrate (and 40% Daily Value for calcium is the bonus).

For those who like their festive drinks well chilled, a 12-ounce Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino LIGHT (blended creme) without whipped cream has 140 calories, 0 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, and 30 grams of carbohydrate (along with 30% of the Recommended Daily Value for calcium).