Although the Atkins Diet and other low-carb diets ban alcoholic beverages or limit them, most alcohol beverages do not have a high carbohydrate content. The exceptions are if you combine liquor with fruit juices and other sweet mixers, and if you don't stop after one drink. Even the minimal carbs in wine can add up if you have several glasses.
Beer
Beer generally contains more carbohydrates than any other alcoholic beverage, but you have light and low-carb options. A 12-oz. bottle of regular beer has about 12.5 g of carbohydrates. The same size bottle of light beer contains only 4.6 grams. The low-carb varieties contain slightly less carbs than light beers. Non-alcoholic beer has even more carbohydrates than regular beer.
Wine
Fermentation removes most of the carbohydrates from wine. It converts the carbs in grapes to alcohol, although a few escape the process and remain. The number that remains depends on the kind of wine you choose. White wines tend to have the fewest carbohydrates, about 0.8 g for a 3.5-oz. serving, although most wine glasses hold more than 3.5 oz., so this can be deceptive. The same serving of red wine has 1.8 g of carbs and rose wine has 1.4 grams.
Distilled Liquor
Like the fermentation process, distilling reduces carbs, but it removes all of them. Although liquors begin with ingredients such as grains, fruit, molasses and sugar, distillation converts these into ethyl alcohol, which contains no carbohydrates at all. Bourbon, whiskey, gin, vodka, brandy, rum and tequila all have zero carbs. This doesn't hold true for exotic liquors, however, because these add sugar and other ingredients after the distillation process. For example, a 1.5-oz. serving of coffee liqueur has 24.3 g of carbohydrates.
Cocktails
When you combine distilled liquor with mixers, it can potentially add a great many carbohydrates. Tonic has a high carb content, so a gin and tonic can contain almost 16 g of carbohydrates in a 7.5-oz. drink. A pina colada with pineapple juice and coconut cream can add up to more than 39 g of carbohydrates for a 4.5-oz. drink. The combinations with the lowest carb counts include Manhattans and gin-and-vermouth martinis. The gin and whiskey have no carbs at all, and the carbohydrates in vermouth are negligible. Both drinks have between 1 and 2 g of carbohydrates. A Tom Collins with gin, club soda, lemon juice and a little sugar has 2.9 g of carbohydrates in a 7.5-oz. drink.
Tips
When you count carbohydrates in any food or beverage, always subtract the fiber content from the total carbohydrates. The fiber content blocks digestive absorption of carbohydrates, so you're not really consuming them. For example, a regular beer contains 0.7 g of fiber. It also contains 13.2 g of total carbs. If you subtract the fiber content from the total carbs, the net result is the amount of carbohydrates you're actually consuming, or 12.5 grams.
Member Comments