Bordeaux 20oz Glass 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 beers 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.  Whiskey is devoid of everything other than the food value of the alcohol itself.


The data in the chart below were taken from the USDA website:  http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ 

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.
A bottle of wine contains 750 Ml or 25.42 Oz of liquid or approximately five 5 Oz or six 4 Oz servings.
At 20 calories per ounce a full bottle would contain approximately  525 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 fermenting process and the yeast converts the sugar and oxygen in the 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 gone (being converted into alcohol) so essentially all of the food values you are consuming come from the alcohol and the alcohol alone.

However, how your body metabolizes the wine is another matter.  Discuss that with your physician.

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 putting on pounds. 

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.

04/05/2004





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