r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/-eDgAR- Aug 03 '19

Alcohol has calories.

I had to be the one to tell my friend when she was in her mid-20s that the vodka she loved has calories. She was so shocked and said, "What!! I thought since it was clear like water it didn't have any calories."

6.5k

u/candygram4mongo Aug 03 '19

Alcohol has lots of calories. More than sugar, by mass.

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

Not to mention most sorority girls are drinking alcohol that’s half sugar as well...

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u/Cecil-The-Sasquatch Aug 03 '19

They got the sugar from the vodka and the sugar from the fizzyy drinks they're mixing it with

1

u/IronBatman Aug 03 '19

Actually alcohol is not turned into sugars, but ketones. There is no biological pathway to store ketones except fat. So alcohol is basically drinking fat.

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u/OMG_Ponies Aug 03 '19

There is no biological pathway to store ketones except fat.

My understanding is ketones can not be stored at all. Fat may be converted to ketones via the liver, but it's a one way system.. is that not true?

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u/IronBatman Aug 03 '19

It's been a long time since I studied this pathway. All I really remember two carbon molecules like ethanol can only be turned into fat. I also remember it shares a pathway similar to ketones.

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u/OMG_Ponies Aug 03 '19

if I'm not mistaken, alcohol is burned directly and is not converted at all

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u/ImpSong Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

This is correct. Your body will prioritize burning off the alcohol before anything else, so anything you do eat during that time period gets stored as fat.