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CNN Live At Daybreak
Interview With Lisa Drayer
Aired December 24, 2003 - 06:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lots of folks planning on celebrating the holiday season in different ways. Well, if you're planning on drinking this Christmas Eve, and I'm not talking about soda, we've got some news you won't want to miss.
Joining us now with news of your health this holiday season is nutritionist Lisa Drayer.
Lisa, so everyone's got to be really careful when they drink for more than one reason, of course. But diet being another.
(AUDIO GAP)
All right, it looks like we're having a problem with our audio with Lisa.
So, Lisa, we're going to try and reestablish that in a minute and try and bring you back in.
But for now we're going to take a short break and, and try to resolve this matter.
All right, maybe we have Lisa again.
Lisa, let's try this one more time.
Lisa, let's see if we can hear you this time.
Let's talk about why drinking and diet may be a rather interesting, precarious little combination this holiday season.
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: That's right. Well, a drink a day may keep heart disease at bay, but more than this can be harmful. That's the message from the most recent study that followed over 5,000 older individuals. It was part of the cardiovascular health study. And what they found, Fredricka, was that one to six alcoholic beverages per week was associated with the least amount of arteriosclerosis. That's the hardening of the artery walls. But drinking 14 or more beverages per week was associated with an increased hardening of the artery walls. And this is something to keep in mind during the holidays.
And another thing, as you said, is diet. We know diet provides calories and so do alcoholic beverages. So, for example, I think we have a chart here, if we go to beer, for example, a 12 ounce beer has a little under 150 calories. A low carb beer -- this is very similar to lite beer -- 95 calories. Five ounces of wine has, on average, 100 calories. One and a half ounces of whiskey or vodka, 100 calories. Peppermint schnapps, just one and a half ounces, 160 calories. And a five ounce eggnog with rum, 270 calories.
WHITFIELD: Wow! Oh, that eggnog. And it's so good, with or without the rum. But too bad there's so many calories.
Well, let's talk about some of the nutritional labels that we usually see on food.
Does this mean that in some near future we may be seeing similar labels on alcoholic beverages so that we can kind of watch the calories and the fat intake?
DRAYER: Would you believe, I think that's what we're going to be seeing a lot of now. That is...
WHITFIELD: Yes?
DRAYER: Yes. Alcoholic manufacturers are going to start listing. We know of one company right now that will start this, Diageo (ph), in 2004. They're going to give us the calories, the carbohydrates. And this was actually a result of a petition filed last week, that is, a petition for an alcohol facts label very similar to the nutrition facts label that we now see on foods.
So it would list the amount of alcohol per serving, the amount of calories per serving and the number of servings per container, so people can see exactly how much they're putting into their bodies when they sip these alcoholic beverages.
WHITFIELD: All in moderation.
DRAYER: That's right.
WHITFIELD: All the time.
All right, thanks a lot, Lisa Drayer, and happy holidays to you.
DRAYER: Thanks.
You, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 24, 2003 - 06:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lots of folks planning on celebrating the holiday season in different ways. Well, if you're planning on drinking this Christmas Eve, and I'm not talking about soda, we've got some news you won't want to miss.
Joining us now with news of your health this holiday season is nutritionist Lisa Drayer.
Lisa, so everyone's got to be really careful when they drink for more than one reason, of course. But diet being another.
(AUDIO GAP)
All right, it looks like we're having a problem with our audio with Lisa.
So, Lisa, we're going to try and reestablish that in a minute and try and bring you back in.
But for now we're going to take a short break and, and try to resolve this matter.
All right, maybe we have Lisa again.
Lisa, let's try this one more time.
Lisa, let's see if we can hear you this time.
Let's talk about why drinking and diet may be a rather interesting, precarious little combination this holiday season.
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: That's right. Well, a drink a day may keep heart disease at bay, but more than this can be harmful. That's the message from the most recent study that followed over 5,000 older individuals. It was part of the cardiovascular health study. And what they found, Fredricka, was that one to six alcoholic beverages per week was associated with the least amount of arteriosclerosis. That's the hardening of the artery walls. But drinking 14 or more beverages per week was associated with an increased hardening of the artery walls. And this is something to keep in mind during the holidays.
And another thing, as you said, is diet. We know diet provides calories and so do alcoholic beverages. So, for example, I think we have a chart here, if we go to beer, for example, a 12 ounce beer has a little under 150 calories. A low carb beer -- this is very similar to lite beer -- 95 calories. Five ounces of wine has, on average, 100 calories. One and a half ounces of whiskey or vodka, 100 calories. Peppermint schnapps, just one and a half ounces, 160 calories. And a five ounce eggnog with rum, 270 calories.
WHITFIELD: Wow! Oh, that eggnog. And it's so good, with or without the rum. But too bad there's so many calories.
Well, let's talk about some of the nutritional labels that we usually see on food.
Does this mean that in some near future we may be seeing similar labels on alcoholic beverages so that we can kind of watch the calories and the fat intake?
DRAYER: Would you believe, I think that's what we're going to be seeing a lot of now. That is...
WHITFIELD: Yes?
DRAYER: Yes. Alcoholic manufacturers are going to start listing. We know of one company right now that will start this, Diageo (ph), in 2004. They're going to give us the calories, the carbohydrates. And this was actually a result of a petition filed last week, that is, a petition for an alcohol facts label very similar to the nutrition facts label that we now see on foods.
So it would list the amount of alcohol per serving, the amount of calories per serving and the number of servings per container, so people can see exactly how much they're putting into their bodies when they sip these alcoholic beverages.
WHITFIELD: All in moderation.
DRAYER: That's right.
WHITFIELD: All the time.
All right, thanks a lot, Lisa Drayer, and happy holidays to you.
DRAYER: Thanks.
You, too.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
