Wine Calories:
The News Isn't All Good

Wine Calories

Wine - red wine especially - gets a lot of good press. That's for three reasons:

1. There have been some health benefits found associated with alcohol consumption
2. Red wine seems clearly to have more health benefits than other kinds of alcohol
3. The wine industry has a huge interest in putting positive information out there!

Unfortunately, no one has an interest in putting the bad news out there. And here's one piece of bad news: wine has calories.

Alcohol weighs in at 7 calories per gram. Wine also has carb calories.

Generally, wine tends to have 120-130 calories per 5.2 oz. glass. (But the glasses people tend to use keep getting bigger!) A wine with a higher alcohol content, like Port, will have more calories per ounce.

The wineries (along with the breweries and alcohol distillers) have fought pretty hard to keep calorie and nutrition info off their labels, which is why I call alcohol calories "hidden calories." It's hard to get good information on what we're consuming and how it'll effect our weight maintenance and weight loss goals.

Here's a page that gives the amount of wine calories in different kinds of wine (but in 4 oz. servings, so the numbers will be lower than the wine calories counts I cited above).

Health benefits of red wine

It is true that studies have shown there to be cardiovascular health benefits to moderate alcohol consumption - for red wine in particular. However...

...every reputable health expert says that if you don't drink now, don't start just to get the health benefits! That's because alcohol poses significant health negatives, and its risks outweigh its benefits.

(And no, you won't hear the wineries telling you that!)

Any alcohol consumption increases breast cancer risk, it can be catastrophic during pregnancy, and of course alcoholism is its own risk factor. Additionally, there are the health risks that come from the weight that alcohol is only too eager to help you put on!

The bottom line: if drinking moderately is something you intend to keep doing, then red wine is likely your best option. But beware alcohol's effect on inhibitions as well! Alcohol's effect on your decision-making process can effect your food choices. If you're out drinking with friends...

...you're liable to eat things that you wouldn't have eaten otherwise. ("I think I'll have two desserts!") So when it comes to weight loss sabotage, wine - and alcohol in general - can pose a double whammy!

Where else might your hidden calories be lurking?

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