Do Vapes Have Calories?

Do Vapes Have Calories?

The idea of inhaling calories might sound strange, but it’s a common question among those who are health-conscious or tracking their diet. As vaping becomes more mainstream, people are asking not just about nicotine levels and flavours, but also how e-liquids might affect their overall health and fitness goals. So, do vapes contain calories—and if they do, should you be worried?

What’s in E-Liquid?

To understand whether vaping has any calorific impact, it helps to break down what’s inside the average vape liquid. Most e-liquids are made from a combination of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), flavourings, and nicotine. Of these ingredients, VG and flavourings are the ones with potential caloric value. Propylene glycol is low in calories, while nicotine is calorie-free.

Vegetable glycerine, in particular, is a carbohydrate-based liquid that does contain calories—about four calories per gram. However, the quantities involved in vaping are tiny. Even if you vape heavily, the amount of VG you’re consuming is minimal compared to food or drink.

Inhalation vs Ingestion

There’s a key distinction between eating something and inhaling it. Your body metabolises calories from food and drink through your digestive system. With vaping, the vapour goes into your lungs, not your stomach. So even though VG has calories in its chemical structure, those calories aren’t absorbed in the same way when you inhale vapour.

Put simply, your body doesn’t treat inhaled substances like food. Most of the vapour is exhaled or broken down in your respiratory system without entering your bloodstream as a calorie source. So while some components of vape juice technically contain calories, vaping doesn’t contribute to your daily caloric intake in any meaningful way.

Does Flavour Affect Calories?

Some might wonder whether sweet or dessert-flavoured vapes—like strawberry cheesecake or vanilla custard—contain more calories. The truth is, flavourings used in vape juice are present in such small amounts that they don’t significantly alter the calorie profile. The aroma and taste come from concentrated flavour compounds, not sugar or fats. These are designed to mimic taste sensations, not add nutritional content.

So whether you're using a fruity, menthol, or dessert vape, the overall caloric content stays roughly the same—and still negligible in terms of diet or weight management.

Should You Be Concerned?

For those keeping a close eye on health, fitness, or calorie counting, it’s reassuring to know that vaping isn’t likely to interfere with those goals from a caloric perspective. Unlike sugary drinks or snacks, vape products don’t deliver energy your body can store as fat. If weight gain is a concern, vaping is not a contributing factor in the same way food or alcohol might be.

That said, vaping is not calorie-free in the strictest chemical sense—but the impact on your body’s calorie intake is so small, it’s practically non-existent.

Thermodynamics and Absorption

Even though vegetable glycerine (VG) has caloric value, those calories aren’t “active” unless ingested. When VG is heated and turned into vapour, it’s largely exhaled rather than absorbed. The lungs don’t extract calories the way the digestive system does. While a small fraction of compounds can enter the bloodstream through lung tissue, there’s no evidence that this results in any measurable calorie intake.

Misconceptions from Sweet Flavours

The confusion often comes from dessert-style e-liquids that taste like sugary treats. A strawberry donut vape might taste indulgent, but the flavour is created using food-safe aromatics and chemical compounds—not actual sugar, cream, or flour. This can mislead people into thinking the vapour itself must carry calories, when in fact the sensation is purely synthetic.

Comparison with Smoking and Food

Cigarettes don’t have calories either, even though they contain plant material that burns and creates smoke. Like vaping, smoking doesn’t involve ingestion. The same principle applies here: if it doesn’t enter your digestive system, your body doesn’t convert it into usable energy.

Likewise, comparing a vape to a soft drink or snack highlights how minor the caloric content is. One can of cola contains around 140 calories, mostly from sugar. A typical session on a vape delivers a trace amount of VG, amounting to less than a calorie—if any of it is absorbed at all.

What Science Says

So far, no clinical studies have shown that vaping contributes to calorie intake. Research in this area focuses more on toxicity, respiratory effects, and nicotine absorption than metabolism or nutrition. The scientific consensus is that the caloric impact of vaping is negligible.

Could Vaping Suppress Appetite?

Here’s a twist—some vapers report reduced appetite or snacking urges, especially with sweet flavours. This could be psychological or sensory. The act of vaping may satisfy cravings through taste alone, which some users feel helps with weight management. However, this is anecdotal and not a medically supported method for dieting.

Can Vaping Make You Gain Weight?

It’s natural to wonder whether vaping could lead to weight gain, especially for those who have quit smoking or are watching their diet. While vaping does not deliver calories in a conventional sense, it can influence eating habits and appetite in indirect ways. Some people find that switching from cigarettes to vaping helps reduce snacking, particularly if they choose flavours that satisfy sweet cravings. In this sense, vaping might actually replace the urge to eat rather than add to it.

However, it’s also possible that others experience increased appetite after quitting smoking, regardless of whether they vape. Nicotine is known to suppress hunger, and when nicotine intake is reduced or eliminated, the appetite may naturally return to normal levels. This isn’t caused by the vape itself, but rather by the body adjusting to changes in nicotine levels. For those using nicotine-containing e-liquids, any appetite suppression remains similar to traditional smoking, but without the same risks.

So while vaping doesn't cause weight gain chemically or calorically, lifestyle shifts after switching to vaping can have an impact depending on individual habits. Weight change, if it occurs, is more likely the result of broader behavioural or metabolic adjustments than anything to do with the vapour itself.

Is Vaping Zero-Calorie?

From a strict nutritional standpoint, vaping is not completely calorie-free due to the presence of vegetable glycerine and flavour compounds. However, these calories are not ingested in the traditional way and do not contribute to energy intake. Because the vapour is inhaled and mostly exhaled, the body has little to no opportunity to extract or store energy from it.

In practical terms, vaping behaves like a zero-calorie activity. It does not affect blood sugar, contribute to fat storage, or supply the body with measurable fuel. Any caloric content exists on a molecular level only, much like how toothpaste or chewing gum can contain trace calories that don’t count toward dietary intake. The difference here is that vaping involves no swallowing or digestion whatsoever, which makes its nutritional footprint virtually non-existent.

While labelling vape juice as “zero-calorie” may not be chemically perfect, it’s accurate enough when considering real-world health or dietary impact. For those tracking their food intake closely or managing weight, vaping remains irrelevant to calorie counting and does not need to be factored into any nutritional planning.

Final Word

Vaping does involve substances that contain calories on a molecular level, particularly vegetable glycerine. However, the act of inhaling vapour doesn’t deliver calories in a way your body can use or store. So if you’re counting calories or managing your diet, there’s no need to factor in your vape. The vapour might taste sweet, but it won’t tip the scales.