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Calories and Wine






How many calories are in a full serving 5 oz glass of wine?  What does a glass of wine cost you in terms of your diet?  Below is a quick and easy chart to illustrate your dietary cost if you are counting for low calories, low fat or low carbohydrates. Both wine and beer contain trace elements of vitamins and minerals such as calcium, potassium, phosphorous, ash, etc., but not in sufficient amounts to consider them into your dietary intake.  Distilled spirits are devoid of everything other than the food value of the alcohol itself.  Alcohol provides no nutritional vitamins or minerals therefore all alcohol calories are "empty calories."

Generally,
a 5-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce glass of beer, and a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor all contain approximately 14 grams of alcohol equal to ½ ounce of pure alcohol and are considered one drink.  One gram of sugar, and other carbohydrates, contain 4 calories while one gram of alcohol contains 7 calories.  (A gram of fat contains 9 calories)



Data in the below chart were taken from the USDA website:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400535/Data/SR/SR28/reports/sr28fg14.pdf

ITEM
RED
WINE
  5 OZ
147.5g
WHITE
WINE
  5 OZ
147.5g
REGULAR
Bud BEER
12 OZ
356.4g
LIGHT
Bud BEER
12 OZ
354g
DISTILLED
80 PROOF
1.5 OZ
42g
DISTILLED
86 PROOF
1.5 OZ
42g
Diet
Cola
12 OZ
415g
Reg
Cola
12 OZ
368g
Calories
106
100
146
99
97
105
8 136
Carbohydrates
2.51g
1.18g
13.20
4.60g
0
0.00g
1g 35g
Water
130.54g
132.16g
328.96g
337.01g
27.97g
26.84g
413g 332g
Alcohol
13.70g
13.70g
12.80g
11.30g
14.00g
15.10g
0 0




Wine varies greatly in alcoholic content usually from 10% to 14%. 
Obviously, the higher the alcohol content the higher the calories.

The wine calories listed above represent wine of approximately 13% alcohol.
Water contains no calories - Varietals will vary slightly in carbohydrate content
A bottle of wine contains 750 Ml or 25.42 Oz of liquid or approximately four 6 Oz servings, five 5 Oz or six 4 Oz servings.
At 20 calories per ounce a full bottle of wine would contain approximately  525 calories.
Craft beers typically contain more alcohol and carbohydrates and therefore, more calories.

Easy to Remember "Rule of Thumb:"
Every standard serving of alcohol will cost you "approximately" 100 +/- calories. 

Wine is nothing more than a mixture of water, alcohol and grape flavors.  The winemaker begins by crushing the grapes and then adding yeast to activate the fermentation process that converts the sugar and oxygen in the grape juice into ethyl alcohol.  Water contains no calories, fat or carbohydrates and the grape flavor represents a very small percentage of the total wine.  The sugars in the grapes are basically gone (being converted into alcohol) so essentially all of the food values you are consuming come from the alcohol and the alcohol alone.

There is a correlation between residual wine grape sugar in wine and the alcohol level.  Sweeter wines will hold more residual sugars resulting in lower alcohol content, while the dryer wines will have less residual sugars and higher alcohol.  One gram of sugar, and other carbohydrates, contain 4 calories while one gram of alcohol contains 7 calories.  (A gram of fat contains 9 calories)

The four sources of energy for your body are fat, protein, carbohydrates and alcohol.  Unlike the other energy sources, alcohol is processed by the liver.  Obviously, this is the reason many alcoholics and heavy drinkers experience liver damage.    A bottle of distilled spirits per day would provide your body with 1,875 calories.  If you add a little food to that number, you very quickly rise to a caloric intake where you will start adding pounds.

How your body metabolizes the alcohol is another matter.  Discuss that with your physician.

So, if you are on a diet, refrain from alcohol.  If you must drink, avoid the high alcohol distilled spirits and the high carbohydrate beers and make it a delicious glass of low carb, low alcohol wine.





A personal note:  Always be cautious how you conduct a discussion  with your physician regarding your alcohol intake.  All information you provide to your doctor is also freely available to Obamacare, Medicare, your private health insurance, life insurance and automobile insurance companies, your employer, your local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and even Homeland Security.  Should your doctor record that you are a heavy drinker or you have alcoholic tendencies, either comment could potentially cost you your insurance policies, your drivers license, your job and even your right to own or possess guns.

(Unrelated to this wine page, but related to this personal note, revealing to your doctor, periods of anger, depression, anxiety, gun ownership, physical conflicts, or anything that could even remotely be construed as abnormal, could carry the same adverse results as alcohol abuse.)

Honesty with your physician is essential.  Caution is paramount. This is a serious matter.



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