confused about wine
pollaidh90
Posts: 4 Member
Hi everyone
Im new here and have been following lchf for about a week. Its going pretty well, but the one thing im confused about is alcohol! I know its bad for you anyway, but I do enjoy the odd glass of wine, and I have an occasion coming up where id like a glass or two and want to make it fit so im not overdoing the cals/carbs.
The only wine I drink is called Gallo summer red, and is a very sweet red. Now the food diary on mfp states that an entire bottle is carb free! But I've been googling this and am getting conflicting reports. Im really only looking to have about two glasses, once a week if that. Im hoping that this is true about it being carb free as I can accommodate for the extra cals! Can anyone shed some light? Im still learning!
Many thanks!
Im new here and have been following lchf for about a week. Its going pretty well, but the one thing im confused about is alcohol! I know its bad for you anyway, but I do enjoy the odd glass of wine, and I have an occasion coming up where id like a glass or two and want to make it fit so im not overdoing the cals/carbs.
The only wine I drink is called Gallo summer red, and is a very sweet red. Now the food diary on mfp states that an entire bottle is carb free! But I've been googling this and am getting conflicting reports. Im really only looking to have about two glasses, once a week if that. Im hoping that this is true about it being carb free as I can accommodate for the extra cals! Can anyone shed some light? Im still learning!
Many thanks!
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Replies
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It's definitely not carb free. It's very difficult to get good info on alcohol
If it's sweet, it has a higher sugar content. The very dry reds I drink have about 3-5g per 5 oz without any sweetness at all.
I used to hate dry wines. But because I have eliminated sugar and most afrtificial sweeteners too, my taste is more sensitive now and I actually enjoy the dry wines. For me, increasing my sweet sensitivity to enjoy less sweet things was the way to go.0 -
I know that red wine is the better option than white (dry red) but unfortunately the statistic on MFP cannot be accurate. That type of wine would be very high in carbs I'm afraid
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The statistic I found was 4 carbs in 5 ounces. Not bad. But actually surprising. I'd be scared to believe that in such a sweet wine. But maybe! I think that's for sweet red not summer red. Myself, if I wanted to have a couple of glasses of wine a week I would work that in. I feel like this is a lifestyle not just a diet and we have to be realistic. And I want to enjoy my life!0
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There's nothing wrong with trying to work it in... As long as you don't get down on yourself if there is a setback.
Another idea to consider, IF you're interested in developing your taste so that you can enjoy the more dry wines would be to create a blend where you reduce the amount of the sweet wine over time until you've gotten used to and appreciate the taste of the dry. Just another idea0 -
A sweet wine could have any number of carbs, some moscatos are up in the 20 g range. A very sweet red is going to probably be at least 10-15. I used to love sweet mines then one day they started making me feel ill cuz all the concentrated sugar. I gradually switched to some dryer ones and now love some of the driest. Maybe try going to a tasting sometime and see if there are any dry ones you like. Good ones don't have a bitter or sour after taste and can be quite mild and delicious without you even realizing its dry.
That being said, if you are only drinking it occasionally and can fit it in to your carb goals, there's no need to cut it out completely. like @dietbepsi said you gotta enjoy your life too. if you aren't going to never drink this wine again it would be good now to learn how to incorporate it in your way of eating. But it definitely doesn't have 0 carbs. Since mfp is a calorie counting website, some don't enter the other nutrition info when logging and only enter the calories.
This link will give you an idea of where a sweet wine will be at
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4163?fgcd=&manu=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=35&offset=&sort=&qlookup=sweet+wine
I also just googled for a sweet red, one from sutter home came up and that was 8.6 g per 5 oz0 -
Thanks everyone! Getting used to less sweet things is definitely a goal for me, its gonna be a work in progress as I have a serious sweet tooth, and so far ive cut out all junk food and sweets which is a big deal for me! I also feel this is a lifestyle rather than quick fix, so I don't want to deny myself of everything too quickly as it will just demotivate me. I also found the 4 carbs to 5oz stat, which is manageable as currently ive aiming for about 40g carbs a day (cut from around 250!)
Also, What does everyone else drink as a lc tipple? Im open to trying other drinks if there are better options. If im out my drink of choice is either gin and slimline tonic or a jack Daniels and diet coke. I haven't been out in a while though so I havent needed to look into their stats yet!0 -
any liquor is going to be nearly 0 carbs, unless they are the flavored varieties. but gin and jack would both be 0 then whatever carbs in your mixers. I like vodka and they sell those Ice drinks they are like a bottled crystal light type thing that comes in all sorts of flavors. there is a pineapple coconut one, that with some rum and its like a maitai with no carbs. just be carful because when you are really low carb it can tend to hit you much differently. so take it slow and keep hydrated, also keep your electrolytes up, I've made the mistake several times.0
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I also just googled for a sweet red, one from sutter home came up and that was 8.6 g per 5 oz[/quote]
Eesh! Think its time to experience with some different flavours! Thanks for looking
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no problem. 8.6 still isn't awful, but it could really be anywhere in that range, though the dry stuff is like 4-5 anyway. it's never been an issue for me an losing weight. it does cause me to dehydrate a lot though and then I feel like garbage for a good day or too till I get my electrolytes back up.0
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LOL, no wine is carb-free! If only!
And like Sunny_Bunny said, the sweeter the wine, the more sugar it contains, hence even higher carbs.
Regardless of the IIFYM philosophy, even if you can shoe-horn alcoholic beverages into your calorie/carb allowance (in place of nutritional food) remember that the body processes alcohol before anything else ie. Whilst drinking alcohol your body can't effectively burn other fuel sources so they're basically stored as fat.
Not only that, alcohol is the worst will-power crusher ever, particularly when it comes to food choices & listening to hunger signals. Maybe I'm weak, but after a drink or 2 my hunger goes through the roof & im guaranteed to crave something cr@ppy & carby. Even if I manage to fight the urges, I don't see the point in making my fat-loss journey more difficult for myself.
I live this WOE to become a "fat-burning machine" (lol) not a fat-STORING machine, so I avoid alcohol like the plague nowadays for all these reasons. I will say though, it was surprisingly difficult at first. Don't underestimate your potential reliance on alcohol. If you "need" a drink to "relax", that's a problem right there. X0 -
If you can't do your body a favour & ditch the alcohol then the lower carb/calorie options are dry champagne for wines and, lower still, vodka/lime/soda.
I'll have a Pepsi Zero instead, thanks! 0 -
Last weekend at a dinner party, and again at Super Bowl, I had seltzer water with lemon and a lime, (in a nice wine glass natch) and then one night with four frozen cherries in it. It felt so festive, and honestly I didn't miss the alcohol at all!0
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Thanks everyone! Its been about three weeks since ive had a glass so ill see how it affects me tomorrow, maybe ill feel so crap ill never want a glass again! Wouldn't be a bad thing haha
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You're body will still burn fat if you consume alcohol in your diet.
I wouldn't worry about 1-2 glasses of wine every three weeks affecting you reaching your goals.0 -
Before I first cut out sugar from my diet last month my go to drink was white wine. Had been for most of my adult life. Nothing better than that on a Friday night. Since I started this journey white wine is now sooooo sweet on my palate and I can't drink it. A dry red is now a favorite. Crazy!!! But my drink of choice now is a mock margarita with dark tequila, club soda and 3 wedges of lime squeezed into it. Amazing!!!! One oz of tequila has 65 calories. My Friday nights that used to be beer and pizza is now cauliflower crust pizza (so yummy) and a "margarita"!!0
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Vodka Soda with a lemon slice. Very refreshing. Zero Carbs. Relatively low Calorie, as boozy drinks go.0
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I'm at the begiining of this, just as you are and my first two weeks--i drank Moscato (my favorite) about twice a week.
Then did a ton of research that suggested to substitute any sparkling white champagne, or try any plain white alcohol. Tried the plain white rum with one splenda, hot water & a lime.....i'm down 6 pounds from January 5th and know i have to slowly back away from certain things.
This is a huge change compared to my former WOE....if you've changed quite a bit..and it sounds like you have, then you know how much you can omit and still enjoy life. What i most enjoy is that on this website (in this forum) people are kind and helpful.
You can work alcohol in but i'm finding that a little at a time, i'm eating more healthy fat and my craving for "very sweet" is greatly diminished.0 -
Before I first cut out sugar from my diet last month my go to drink was white wine. Had been for most of my adult life. Nothing better than that on a Friday night. Since I started this journey white wine is now sooooo sweet on my palate and I can't drink it. A dry red is now a favorite. Crazy!!! But my drink of choice now is a mock margarita with dark tequila, club soda and 3 wedges of lime squeezed into it. Amazing!!!! One oz of tequila has 65 calories. My Friday nights that used to be beer and pizza is now cauliflower crust pizza (so yummy) and a "margarita"!!
That sounds good! Margarita was always my favorite!0 -
Here is some good info on drinking red wine:
http://authoritynutrition.com/red-wine-good-or-bad/0 -
I think gin + seltzer and a slice of lime is pretty good. I like Hendricks.0
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