Are you a wine enthusiast who has recently embraced the keto diet? You might be wondering if you can still enjoy your favorite bottle of vino while staying true to your low-carb lifestyle. The good news is, wine can be a part of a keto diet, but it's essential to make informed choices.
Wine and the Keto Diet: An Overview
Wine is a naturally low-carb alcoholic beverage, making it a potentially suitable choice for those following a keto diet. Unlike beer and sugary cocktails that are often high in carbs, wine typically contains fewer than 5 grams of carbohydrates per serving. However, the carb content can vary significantly depending on the type of wine.
Understanding Carb Content in Wine
Not all wines are created equal when it comes to their carb content. In general, dry wines, such as red and white wines, contain fewer carbs than sweet wines, such as dessert wines and some sparkling wines.
The carb and calorie content of wine varies depending on several factors, including:
- Grape variety: Different grape varieties have different sugar levels, which affects the final carb content.
- Fermentation process: The longer the fermentation process, the more sugar is converted into alcohol, resulting in a drier wine with fewer carbs.
- Sugar content: Wines with residual sugar after fermentation will have a higher carb content.
- Age: The age of the wine can also affect its sugar content.
The calories in wine come predominantly from its alcohol and sugar content, while carbohydrates come from the leftover sugar content after the fermentation process.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Keto-Friendly Wine Options
When it comes to choosing a keto-friendly wine, there are several grape varieties that are particularly low in carbs. Dry wines are generally the best choice, as they contain less residual sugar. Wine is considered dry if it contains 10 grams of sugar per bottle or less.
Here are some keto-friendly wine options:
- Dry Reds:
- Pinot Noir: This lighter red wine is a great option with just 3.4 grams of carbs per glass. A glass of Pinot Noir contains up to 121 calories on average. Pinot noir goes well with fish and salads, as well as richer ingredients like mushrooms.
- Merlot: This heavier red wine contains 3.7 grams of carbs per serving. A single glass of Merlot typically contains around 120 calories. Merlot is a perfect pairing for your steak dinner.
- Cabernet Sauvignon: One glass of Cabernet Sauvignon contains around 122 calories and 3.8 g of carbohydrates.
- Dry Whites:
- Sauvignon Blanc: Despite its light and sweet taste, sauvignon blanc is an excellent choice, with 3 grams of carbs per glass. Pair it with creamy sauces and seafood.
- Chardonnay: This full-bodied white wine contains about 3.2 grams of carbs per glass. Pair it with creamy sauces and seafood.
- Pinot Grigio: A glass of Pinot Grigio contains 123 calories and an average of 3.8 g of carbs.
- Chenin Blanc: One glass of Chenin Blanc typically contains about 120 calories, which is quite low compared to red wines.
- Riesling: One standard glass of summery Riesling contains up to 115 calories and an incredibly low carb content of 1.4 g overall.
- Sparkling Wines:
- Sparkling wines labeled Brut and Extra Brut typically have the lowest amounts of residual sugar-as little as 1.5 grams of carbs (or less!) per glass. Shop for sparkling wines (i.e. champagne, cava, and prosecco).
Wines to Avoid on Keto
Certain wines are higher in sugar and carbs and should be avoided on a keto diet. These include:
- Sweet Wines:
- Port
- Moscato
- Sauternes
- Ice wines come from grapes that have been frozen on the vine, giving them a higher sugar level than traditional wines.
- Other High-Carb Wines:
- Riesling
- Rosé
- Sangria (red or white)
- Shiraz
- Wine coolers and frozen wine pops/drinks
- Zinfandel
- Grenache
- Cabernet
Avoid the following wines while on a keto diet.
Tips for Enjoying Wine on Keto
Here are some tips to help you enjoy wine while staying in ketosis:
Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide
- Choose Dry Wines: Opt for dry wines with lower residual sugar content.
- Drink in Moderation: It's best to drink wine in moderation on a keto diet. Keep in mind that one serving of wine is typically 5 ounces.
- Pair with Keto-Friendly Foods: Pairing wine with food can be a great way to enhance the flavors of both the wine and the dish. However, for those on a keto diet, it's important to choose food pairings that are low in carbs.
- Avoid Mixers and Sweeteners: To keep your carb intake low, avoid adding mixers or sweeteners to your wine.
- Eat a Keto-Friendly Meal Before Drinking: Eating a keto-friendly meal before drinking will help balance your blood sugar.
Potential Pitfalls of Drinking Alcohol on Keto
While wine can be a great addition to a keto diet, it's important to be aware of the potential pitfalls of drinking alcohol while on a low-carb diet.
- Alcohol Can Interfere with Ketosis: Your body prioritizes metabolizing alcohol over burning fat for energy, which can interfere with ketosis and slow down your weight loss progress.
- Alcohol Can Slow Down Progress in the Gym: Many of those on a keto diet are also putting in the work in the gym. Unfortunately, alcohol can slow down your progress by limiting the energy you have to give it you all when you hit the mat.
- Alcohol in itself can cause ketosis to slow down. This is because alcohol can not be stored in the body like carbohydrates, protein and fat can. When alcohol enters your body, your regular metabolism essentially stops until the alcohol has broken down.
Understanding Wine Labels
Most wine labels don’t list standard nutrition facts like other packaged foods, so you may have to do some of your own quick calculations and research to learn more about each bottle’s sugar and carb content.
Here's what to look for:
- Look for the ABV (Alcohol By Volume) and residual sugar in the wines you are selecting. As either increases, so do the carbs.
- Find a specific wine’s technical information by searching the label as well as terms like residual sugar, fact sheet, and/or tech sheet.
- Calculate carbs by multiplying the residual sugar level in grams per liter (g/L) by 0.15, which will give you the grams of carbs per 150 ml serving.
Choosing Keto-Friendly Wines: Additional Tips
- Look for a Dry Wine: Dry wines are the lowest in carbohydrates. Many wines contain residual sugar from the fermentation process, and the more residual sugar, the more carbs in the wine. Sweeter wines have a shorter fermentation process, which means less time to break down sugar, and therefore more sugar is left behind.
- Shop for sparkling wines (i.e. champagne, cava, and prosecco), dry reds like merlot and pinot noir, and whites such as sauvignon blancs. Many bottles will even say “dry” right on the label. Another helpful tip is to look for higher alcohol content wines, as this indicates most of the sugar has been fermented into alcohol.
- Watch out for cheaper, budget-driven wines, which tend to have more residual sugar to improve the taste. Other wines with higher carb counts are typically just naturally high in sugar and sweetness. These will also be lower in alcohol content, so if you see a wine with an alcohol content below 13% that is a good sign it has more sugar in it.
DrinkWell: Your Keto-Friendly Wine Source
When following a keto diet, you will become well accustomed to checking the nutritional label on everything you consume to make sure that it is appropriate for your diet. However, you’ve probably noticed that such information isn’t as readily available on alcohol bottles. This is where DrinkWell comes in. DrinkWell offers a variety of no and low carbohydrate alternatives, with a couple of sparkling wine options. DrinkWell also stocks the largest selection of keto-friendly wines in the UK. Choose from a wide range of red wines, white wines, rose wines and sparkling wines, all with low carbohydrates and ideal for a keto diet.
Examples of DrinkWell keto-friendly wines:
Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto
- Woolloomooloo
- Dudley
- Slimline Sparkling White Wine
- Dimarine Provence Rose