If you keep a close eye on your diet, as many calorie counters do, you might have thought about how many calories are in a vape. When you are vaping on a sweet e-liquid that tastes like a dessert or fruit, it’s only natural to assume that it’s adding extra calories to your daily intake.
The simple answer to the question of vape calories is that, yes, vapes do contain a tiny number of calories. But, crucially, these are not the same as the ones you get from eating or drinking. Your body does not absorb these calories in the same manner, and it is an almost negligible amount to begin with, anyway.
This article will help you understand vape calories and their effects on your body weight, if any.
Main Sources of Calories In A Vape
Any vape kit you use has either a pod or a tank containing vape juice. The coil inside is what vaporises this liquid and turns it into inhalable vapour. Now, the only ingredients in it that contain any measurable amount of calories are the two base liquids, Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG). Both PG and VG amount to around four calories per gram. Of these two, VG is slightly denser, so it can contain closer to 5.44 calories per millilitre in its pure form.
If you do the math, a 10ml bottle of standard e-liquid might hold roughly 40-50 total calories. While this figure can look significant on paper, it is entirely misleading for one simple reason: you are not digesting the liquid.
Inhaled E-liquid Calories vs Digested Food Calories
You eat food, and it gives you energy because your digestive system breaks its calories down before absorbing them. Calories from inhaled vapour take an entirely different route and work totally differently.
When you vape, the e-liquid is heated into an aerosol (vapour) that you inhale into your lungs. The PG and VG are not digested. They are absorbed by the lung tissue in a completely different way, and their caloric energy is not utilised by the body for fuel. As a result, the theoretical calories in the bottle do not translate into absorbed calories for your body.
In practical terms, each puff contains a minuscule fraction of a calorie. A full day of typical vaping might expose you to the equivalent of less than five absorbed calories. This is roughly equal to the amount you will burn off in a minute of simply being at rest. This is why you will never find a nutritional label on a bottle of vape juice. It is regulated as a consumer vaping product, not a food item.
Calories in E-liquid Flavours and Nicotine
In addition to VG and PG, most vape fluids contain a flavouring of some kind. Then, there is the nicotine on top of it all (not present in nicotine-free vapes).
Flavourings & Sweeteners: E-liquids come in hundreds of different flavours. These flavouring agents add very few to no calories. To add a bit of sweetness, artificial sweeteners like sucralose are used, as real sugar can burn or clog the coil. These also add no digestible calories.
Nicotine: Nicotine itself does not have any meaningful calories. It, however, has a different role to play when it comes to weight, with its effects on appetite and metabolism.
Can Vaping Make You Lose Weight
As we saw above, the total number of calories you get from vaping is close to zero. But how to explain the weight fluctuations experienced by many vapers? That has to do with one ingredient in vape fluid, namely nicotine. Nicotine in vapes can indirectly influence your weight.
How Nicotine Affects Weight
Nicotine suppresses your appetite, as is the case with those who smoke cigarettes. This chemical, once absorbed, stimulates the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine. This, in turn, can reduce your cravings for food and make you feel full. Nicotine has also been known to increase metabolic rate, which makes your body burn a few more calories when it is at rest.
Using Vaping As A Weight Loss Tool
So, should you take up weight loss vaping? Not at all. Multiple health authorities and medical professionals have come out strongly against this practice. While it might look like a convenient shortcut, using an addictive substance like nicotine to manage your appetite is not without risks. The risks of nicotine addiction are not worth the minor, short-term effect it will have on your hunger. Rely on a well-balanced diet and regular exercise instead for sustainable weight management, not on vaping.
Does vaping make you gain weight? Not directly, and not in the way you might think. People sometimes gain weight after they quit smoking or vaping. That is explained by the fact that as soon as nicotine is removed, people’s normal hunger cues return. Additionally, food might taste more enjoyable as taste buds start to recover. These two changes, when combined, can lead to increased eating. This is what causes the weight gain, not the calories in your vape.
Calories in Sweet, Dessert-Flavoured Vapes
A sweet vape juice flavour like a rich vanilla custard or a sweet blueberry candy still uses the same PG/VG base as a simple tobacco flavour. The flavourings and sweeteners do not add digestible calories. The calorie content remains negligible regardless of how sweet it tastes.
The Truth Behind Vape Calories
So, how many calories are in a vape? The scientific and industry consensus is clear: while the ingredients have a theoretical caloric value, the amount your body actually absorbs from vaping is so tiny it is considered insignificant. You would have to physically drink the e-liquid, which is dangerous and must never be done, to ingest those calories in a way that affects your weight.
While there may be close to zero calories in them, are vapes good for you? If you are a smoker transitioning to vapes, then yes. And as for your weight, you can expect it to stay the same. The real relationship between vaping and weight has to do with nicotine's effect as an appetite suppressant, not the negligible calorie content of the vapour.
Shop Genuine Vape Kits & E-Liquids
To put it simply, the calories in your vape juice are negligible and won't impact your weight in any meaningful way. Good diet and regular exercise are the tried-and-tested ways to do that. What truly matters to a vaper is the quality of their vaping device and the juice they are vaping on.
You can take a look at the curated selection of vape kits and e-liquids at our online vape store in the UK. Browse through the best vape starter kits to find the one that best suits your interests and preferences.
