Red Wines

[Kcwhippet]

Max,

There was a study done awile ago that included data from the USDA and a few other sources that attempted to put together something akin to those Nutrition Facts you see on many food packages. As for the data pertinent to many diets, i.e., calories and carbohydrates, the findings were quite interesting. For a typical serving size of 5 oz of 12% alcohol wine the averages for a typical red wine came out to 102 calories and 2.41g of carbohydrates, and for a typical white wine it was 96.4 calories and 1.13g of carbohydrates. These figures are for wines fermented to dryness, but they can be a bit misleading because of the guidelines used by the USDA. While the carbs for a dry red wine come out to 2.41g, there is no dietary fiber and no sugars, so how can there be any carbs? Well, they're what the USDA calls "carbohydrates by difference" which is a catch all for anything that doesn't fall into one of four other categories - protein, fat, moisture or ash. They're not actually "real" carbohydrates, so they are totally acceptable on a low carb diet. If this isn't making a whole lot of sense, don't worry because you're not alone. Even the USDA has a problem defining "carbohydrates by difference" adequately.