How many calories are in a vape

July 09, 2025

How many calories are in a vape

Vape liquids (e‐liquids) are mostly made of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), both of which are food additives with caloric value. PG contains ≈4–4.1 calories per gram and VG ≈4.3 calories per gram. (VG is denser, ≈1.26 g/mL, so ~5 cal/mL.) Flavoring agents usually use PG/VG carriers, so they add negligible extra calories. Nicotine itself has no calories. In short, any calories in vape juice come from the PG/VG (or other carrier oils) in the mix.

Nicotine e-cigarette vapes (PG/VG–based)

Ingredients: Typical nicotine e-liquids are ~50:50 or 70:30 VG:PG by volume, plus flavor. At ~4–5 calories per mL of liquid, a milliliter of vape juice contains only about 4–5 calories. (For comparison, a 30 mL bottle ≈150 cal, roughly a soda can.)
Per puff: Vaping devices draw a tiny fraction of a mL per puff. Typical estimates are ≈100 puffs per mL, so one puff contains only about 0.05 calories. In other words, 10 puffs ≈0.5 cal, 20 puffs ≈1 cal.
Per session/cartridge: A session of, say, 10–20 puffs delivers barely half a calorie. A 1 mL cartridge or tank of e-liquid holds ≈5 calories total; a 2 mL cartridge ≈10 cal. Even “heavy” vaping (several mL/day) only adds a few tens of calories per day.
Source of these calories: Almost all come from inhaled VG/PG vapor. Since you inhale rather than eat the liquid, the body does not process these calories like food. Inhaling vapor means most of it is exhaled, not digested. Studies and reviews note that calories from vaping are not absorbed through the lungs, so they have virtually no impact on diet.

Flavored nicotine-free vapes

These e‑liquids are chemically the same as nicotine vapes, just without nicotine. Their calorie content is nearly identical to nicotine versions, since nicotine’s absence doesn’t remove any calories. (Flavor additives are typically alcohol- or PG/VG-based and make up ≤10% of the mix, so they add only trace calories.)
Thus, a 1 mL nicotine‐free e-liquid still contains ~4–5 calories, or ~0.05 cal/puff. In practice there’s no meaningful difference in caloric intake between vaping with or without nicotine.

Cannabis (THC/CBD) vapes

Ingredients: Cannabis vape cartridges contain concentrated THC or CBD plus diluents. Common additives are terpenes (flavor/aroma) and carrier oils (VG, PG, or MCT oil). THC and CBD themselves provide no usable calories (they’re active compounds, not nutrients). Terpenes likewise contribute essentially zero calories.
Carrier oils: Any calories come from carrier liquids. Vegetable glycerin (VG) still has ~4 cal/g, propylene glycol ~4 cal/g, and MCT oil (sometimes used in cannabis vapes) ~8.3 cal/g. However, only a small volume is used. A typical cart is 0.5–1 mL of liquid, mostly THC distillate plus a bit of VG/MCT. If 0.5 mL were all VG (≈0.5 g), that’s ~2.1 calories; if all MCT (0.5 g), ~4.2 calories. So a 0.5 mL THC cart generally holds ≈2–4 total calories, a 1 mL cart ~5–8 calories.
Per puff: In practice, THC carts yield many more puffs per mL than e-cigs (e.g. ~150 puffs/0.5 mL). This spreads those few calories over many draws, on the order of 0.02–0.03 calories per puff.
Absorption: Just as with nicotine vapes, inhaled vapor is not digested. Virtually none of those carrier-oil calories are absorbed into the bloodstream when vaping. Thus cannabis vaping adds almost no dietary calories.

Overall caloric impact

Negligible vs. food: By comparison, common foods and drinks have hundreds of calories per serving. For example, an entire 30 mL bottle of e-liquid (~150 cal) equals just one soda can, but that 150 cal is spread out over many days of vaping. A single vaping session (10–20 puffs) is far less caloric than even a bite of a snack.
No meaningful contribution: Most experts agree vaping calories are effectively zero for dietary purposes. Because inhaled VG/PG aren’t digested, “vaping is virtually calorie-free in practice”. Even a heavy user taking ~2 mL/day (≈10 cal) is consuming an amount akin to a small fruit – hardly a dent in a ~2000 calorie diet.
Nicotine’s effect (aside from calories): Note that nicotine itself has no calories but does suppress appetite and slightly boost metabolism. Thus any weight effects of vaping come from nicotine’s pharmacology and behavioral factors, not the tiny caloric content of the vape.

Sources: E-liquid ingredients and their caloric values; published analyses of vape juice calories (≈4–5 cal/mL); empirical puff counts and oil volumes; expert summaries noting that inhaled vapor calories are not absorbed and are negligible.

Collection of how many calories are in a vape wallpapers for your desktop and mobile devices.