EMPTY CALORIES

When people talk about liquor being empty calories, they don't mean there are no calories in it. They mean there are calories but no useful nutrition. If one is counting calories, the tendency then is to lower the food intake and just drink....not a wise move for long.

What Causes Cirrhosis of the Liver? Hepatitis C, fatty liver, and alcohol abuse are the most common causes of cirrhosis of the liver in the U.S. Simply put, many alcoholics take in too many calories that have no nourishment so they suffer malnutrition. Since the liver is there to process nutritional intake, one may picture a liver not able to do its job, overworked uselessly. It doesn't seem to like it...(my non-medical opinion). "The Department of Health carried out research showing a regular beer drinker, who downed five pints a week or 250 over the course of a year, packed away the same number of calories as someone eating 221 doughnuts over the space of 12 months"....."It also revealed the average wine drinker consumed 2,000 calories each month. Over the course of a year, that is the equivalent of eating an extra 38 roast beef dinners."--BBC News, Health 4-17-09

About the only thing you can do that doesn't overload you with calories is psyllium which has no taste and doesn't give you a buzz. Those are probably the main reasons it will never replace alcohol.