Do vapes have calories?
Are you someone who pays close attention to your calorie intake? If so, the thought ‘do vapes have calories?’ may have crossed your mind once or twice.
The simple answer? Yes, vaping does count toward your daily calorie intake. But don’t worry; it’s likely not as much as the number you have in your head right now.
Today, Juicemate will run through vapes and calories, explaining why they count toward your intake and how they differ from food and drink. We’ll also touch on how vaping can affect your metabolism and appetite (and if it's the unexpected culprit behind unexpected weight loss or gain).
If you’re a sucker for delicious flavours, then we have a whole range of e-liquids for you to try at Juicemate.
What’s actually in vape juice (and where ‘calories’ come from)
As you most likely already know, vape juice contains the following ingredients:
- PG (propylene glycol)
- VG (vegetable glycerin)
- Nicotine (however, there are nicotine-free e-liquids available)
- Flavourings and sweeteners
Flavourings and nicotine have no calorific value, but PG and VG contribute a very small number of calories (so small that the calorie intake is considered negligible).
With this in mind, PG and VG do contain chemical energy, which food labels call “calories”, which is why you can technically calculate kcal per mL of e-liquid.
But unlike food and drink, your body processes the calories from vaping differently, aside from the fact that the number of calories is already small anyway.
How many calories are actually in e-liquid?
So, we can’t give you an exact amount, because the amount of calories contained in an e-liquid will differ depending on what you’re vaping. For example, vapes high in VG will contain more calories than ones containing higher amounts of PG.
You can estimate how many kcal are in a ml of vape juice by looking at each ingredient’s energy per gram and its density. PG has about 4 kcal per gram and a density of roughly 1.037 g/mL at 25°C.
Multiply those together, and you get approximately 4.14 kcal/mL for pure PG. VG has an energy content of approximately 4.32 kcal per gram and a density of around 1.26 g/mL at 20°C, which translates to a specific energy content of 5.44 kcal/mL for pure VG.
Do those calories “count”? Why inhaled vapour isn’t part of your daily tally
When vaping, the ingredients are inhaled directly into your lungs, rather than being absorbed by your digestive system.
So, even though e-liquids contain energy, because of the PG and VG, they aren’t ingested and are regulated as consumer vaping products under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR), not as foods.
You won’t find a nutrition label on e-liquids because they’re designed for inhalation. Vapour is aerosolised and exhaled; the liquid has a theoretical energy value, but the calories don’t offer nutrition like food.
Will vaping affect my weight?
The small amount of calories in a vape shouldn’t really cause your weight to fluctuate. Since calories have to be digested to be absorbed, the calories themselves can’t cause you to lose or gain weight.
However, the actual act of vaping may cause your appetite to be suppressed. When vaping, your brain is tricked into thinking that you’re eating. Why? Nicotine produces a big dopamine hit, the same as when eating, so our bodies think that we’ve consumed food, interrupting normal bodily functions (like hunger).
Nicotine itself has also been labelled as an appetite suppressant, and many people can fall into the habit of combating food cravings with nicotine. This in itself can therefore lead to weight loss, but the actual act of vaping can’t and shouldn’t be used to help you lose weight.
On the other hand, if someone has turned to vaping as a healthier alternative to smoking and is reducing their nicotine intake, they may experience increased hunger.
Since you’re not getting that big dopamine hit and the nicotine isn’t speeding up your metabolism anymore, your food cravings may increase, and you may notice you burn calories more slowly.
Leave the cigarettes behind with Juicemate
So, now that we’ve established that the calories in vapes don’t have any real impact on your weight or calorie intake, why not make the healthy switch today?
With vaping, you can choose your nicotine strength and shop by flavour. Plus, you don’t get that smoky, ash smell that lingers. We recommend starting with our affordable 10 ml vape juice for everyday use.
For a smoother hit, try our nic salts at higher strengths or opt for high-VG shortfills for thicker clouds.