What You Drink Bailey's Every Day, This Is What Happens To Your Body

While some of the world's most famous beverages have hundred-year histories and loads of tradition behind them, Bailey's Irish Cream was born in 1973. The concept for the beverage came from a brief to create an Irish drink brand for export. One of the men behind the drink, David Gluckman, says it took 30 seconds for him and his business partner, Hugh Reade Seymour-Davies, to think of the idea, and 45 minutes to make the combination of Irish cream, Jamison's whiskey, and Cadbury's Powdered Drinking Chocolate work (via The Irish Times).

After laboratory tinkering and the magic of copywriting, Bailey's has become the "perfect marriage of fresh, premium, quality Irish dairy cream, finest spirits, Irish whiskey, and a proprietary recipe of chocolate flavors." The liqueur's owner, Diago, says it sold its two billionth bottle of Bailey's in December 2019 (via The Spirits Business), while the drink's inventors received 3,000 British pounds in all for their creation.

Rich Irish cream is the backbone of Bailey's Irish Cream — 50 percent of it, in fact. This can explain why a 100 ml serving of Bailey's clocks in at a whopping 327 calories —which Livestrong points out, makes it less of a drink and more of a dessert. Aside from the 13.5 grams of alcohol, Bailey's also contains 20 grams of sucrose or four teaspoons of table sugar — also making it a less-than-ideal drink for folks keeping tabs on their blood sugar.

Bailey's Irish Cream might be one of the world's favorite liqueurs, but its fat (from the cream) and sugar content make it a less than ideal drink to be consumed every day, particularly if you're watching your weight or if you have a problem with high blood sugar. Consuming a drink as rich as Bailey's every day could have unintended consequences like weight gain. Also, keep in mind that the CDC only recommends a hard limit of one alcoholic drink per day for women, and two for men, and going beyond that could be further detrimental to your health. 

Instead, Glamour suggests you may want a small glass of white or red wine, prosecco, whiskey, or vodka if you're looking to enjoy a daily evening nightcap — all of which come under 100 calories per serving.