Can I drink on a low carb/low sugar diet?

[FAT TO SKINNY reader]

Dear Doug, I've been drinking a couple of glasses of wine each night...pretty good size goblets. Will the wine affect my weight loss?

FAT TO SKINNY reader

[Doug Varrieur]

Can I drink on a low carb/low sugar diet?

Here’s the lowdown on hooch. Alcohol will burn as fuel before FAT.  It goes into the liver on one side a martini and comes out the other side a triglyceride, blood fat. Now I’m not saying you need to cut out the booze altogether…but… if you’re on my program and your weight is struggling to come off and you’re drinking…cut back until the weight starts to drop off. This way you’ll find your personal alcohol benchmark. For me drinking became a thing of the past. My tolerance level is simply too low. For you it may be a drink or two a day. Experiment and make adjustments as needed.

[FAT TO SKINNY reader]

I've noticed my weight loss is stalled, mi wife tells me it's because of my beer. Is that true?

FAT TO SKINNY Reader

[Doug Varrieur]

Where does the sugar come from in beer? It comes from the grains, Barley and Hops. You can make good choices however and keep your beer to a minimum. Look at the difference between Guinness and Michelob Ultra for example. Be sure to add your counts into your daily total.

Beverage                  Net Carbs                Sugar
Accel                    2.4g                     ¾ tsp  sugar
Amstel Light       5g                     1 ¼ tsp sugar
Aspen Edge       2.6g                     ¾ tsp sugar
Bud Light   6.6g       1                         ½ tsp sugar
Bud Select       3.1g                     ¾ tsp sugar
Busch Light       6.6g                     1 ¼  sugar
Costal Light       3.9g                     1  sugar
Coors Light       5g                     1 ¼ tsp sugar
Corona light       5g                     1 ¼ tsp sugar
Guinness   17.6g       4                         ½ tsp sugar
Heineken Light   6.8g   1 ½ tsp sugar
Labatt Light   8g   2 tsp sugar
Labatt Sterling   2.5g   ¾ tsp sugar
Michelob Light   11.7g   3 tsp sugar
Michelob Ultra   2.6g   ¾ tsp sugar
Michelob Ultra Amber   3.7g   1tsp  sugar
Mikes Light Lemonade 11.2 oz   6g   1 ½ tsp sugar
Miller Lite                  3.2g   ¾ tsp sugar
Milwaukee’s Best Light   3.5g   ¾ tsp sugar
Natural Light   3.2g   ¾ tsp sugar
Sam Adams Light   9.7g   1 ¾ tsp sugar

[FAT TO SKINNY reader]

Hi Doug,
I received your book 2 weeks ago and am feeling GREAT!  Boy what a difference, my head is clearer, I'm not hungry all the time, I have more energy and oh yeah, my jeans are very comfortable fitting now. THANK YOU
 
I am curious to know what wine has the least amount of sugar as I do enjoy a glass or two of wine at night.
 
I read in your book about beer and mixed drinks but couldn't find any info on wine.
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Betty
North Reading, MA

[Doug Varrieur]

As discussed in the thread above....it's not the sugar that causes the main concern, it's the alcohol that metabolizes into triglycerides (blood fat). So even though most wine is low in sugar you still must be mindfull. Their are wines high in sugar as well such as Port and certain dessert wines. Good rule of thumb...if it's "sweet" it has sugar in it.

Vermouth, Dry   1.4g   ½ tsp sugar
Vermouth, Sweet   4.5g   1 ¼ tsp  sugar

Wine, Red (4oz)   2.0g   ½ tsp sugar
Wine, White (4oz)   0.9g   ¼ tsp  sugar

[tinakeel40@gmail.com]

I doug!  I was wondering how many net carbs clear liquors have in them.

gin
rum
tequila
vodka

Thanks!
Tina

[Doug Varrieur]

ALCOHOL

Serving size one ounce
(shot glass) unless otherwise noted.

Getting excited with these carb counts?

Are you saying…see…honey it’s not the booze making me FAT! Sorry to pop the bubble, here’s the lowdown on hooch. Alcohol will burn as fuel before FAT.  It goes into the liver on one side a martini and comes out the other side a triglyceride, blood fat. Now I’m not saying you need to cut out the booze altogether…but… if you’re on my program and your weight is struggling to come off and you’re drinking…cut back until the weight starts to drop off. This way you’ll find your personal alcohol benchmark. For me drinking became a thing of the past. My tolerance level is simply too low. For you it may be a drink or two a day. Experiment and make adjustments as needed.   

First listing is net carbs second listing is sugar counts

Armagnac   0g   0  tsp sugar
Beer (12oz)   12.5g   3.25 tsp  sugar
Bourbon   0g   0 tsp sugar
Brandy   0g   0 tsp sugar
Cognac   0g   0 tsp sugar
Gin   0g   0 tsp sugar
Rum   0g   0 tsp sugar
Scotch   0g   0 tsp sugar
Tequila   0g   0 tsp sugar
Vermouth, Dry   1.4g   ½ tsp sugar
Vermouth, Sweet   4.5g   1 ¼ tsp  sugar
Vodka   0g   0 tsp sugar
Whiskey   0g   0 tsp sugar
Wine, Red (4oz)   2.0g   ½ tsp sugar
Wine, White (4oz)   0.9g   ¼ tsp  sugar

BEER

Serving size all 12oz unless noted

Sugar in beer?? No way! What will I drink with my pizza 

Where does the sugar come from in beer? It comes from the grains, Barley and Hops. You can make good choices however and keep your beer to a minimum. Look at the difference between Guinness and Michelob Ultra for example. Be sure to add your counts into your daily total.

Accel   2.4g   ¾ tsp  sugar
Amstel Light   5g   1 ¼ tsp sugar
Aspen Edge   2.6g   ¾ tsp sugar
Bud Light   6.6g   1 ½ tsp sugar
Bud Select   3.1g   ¾ tsp sugar
Busch Light   6.6g   1 ¼  sugar
Costal Light   3.9g   1  sugar
Coors Light   5g   1 ¼ tsp sugar
Corona light   5g   1 ¼ tsp sugar
Guinness   17.6g   4 ½ tsp sugar
Heineken Light   6.8g   1 ½ tsp sugar
Labatt Light   8g   2 tsp sugar
Labatt Sterling   2.5g   ¾ tsp sugar
Michelob Light   11.7g   3 tsp sugar
Michelob Ultra   2.6g   ¾ tsp sugar
Michelob Ultra Amber   3.7g   1tsp  sugar
Mikes Light Lemonade 11.2 oz   6g   1 ½ tsp sugar
Miller Lite   3.2g   ¾ tsp sugar
Milwaukee’s Best Light   3.5g   ¾ tsp sugar
Natural Light   3.2g   ¾ tsp sugar
Sam Adams Light   9.7g   1 ¾ tsp sugar

[katary]

what about cannabis ?? lol

      for medicinal purposes 

[beebs]

Say hello to the munchies Gar.....

[SherriPie]

Well I am thrilled to learn there's no carbs in Vodka or Tequila. WOO HOO!

[Prosperity]

What about cooking with wine or beer. Does the alcohol cook out and therefore reduce the carb count?

[Doug Varrieur]

yes to the wine, maybe to the beer. I make Marsala and Sherry wine recipes all the time. My guess would be the beer used as a boiling liquid would be OK as long as you don't drink it after

[umpa]

Welcome Prosperity! If I can be of assistance let me know. I have a column on the homepage called ask umpa where i help you convert your favorite recipes.My favorite wine to cook with is Marsala.

[Prosperity]

Thank you Doug and Umpa! We use the beer in our chili which gives it a special flavor and has won awards!