I'm just a little unwell.

[cyrano]

Feeling seriously crapulous. Tired. Head throbbing. Throat raw and not at all happy. I am in a world of mucous. Not doing anything except enjoying the lovely dinner my wonderful housemate made me. But then this advert came on and I just have to ask.

A Bacardi ad claims that Bacardi and Diet Coke, as a mixed drink, has no carbs and no sugar (by neccessity, since sugar is a simple carbohydrate) and only has 66 calories.
Um. So with no carbohydrates, does that mean the 66 calories are all fat and protein? Or is this one of those weird definitions of 'carbohydrates' that I was previously unaware of?

Comments

On the nature of carbohydrates...

[motleypolitico.livejournal.com]

Okay, so this is a chemical rather than a food definition, but here it goes:

Carbohydrate = Carbon + Hydrate = C + H₂O

So, strictly speaking, ethanol, which is C₂H₆O does not meet the theoretical definition of carbohydrate. Are there plenty of things out there that have calories, which we tend to food-wise call carbohydrates? Absolutely. Are there molecules which are broken down at least by some of the same chemical pathways? Again, absolutely.

But alcohol gets broken down into acetaldehyde (I'm going back years, and have no reference in front of me, so bear with) which is more sugar-like and more carbohydrate-like in composition, hence alcohol (ethyl alcohol to be more precise here) tends to get treated like a carbohydrate.

Starches are definitely carbohydrates, sugars are definitely carbohydrates, alcohols act in some ways like carbohydrates, but stricly speaking, they aren't carbohydrates.

That would be your chemistry lesson for today.