Dieting: wine gets the go ahead!

For many of us our one true love and biggest downfall is wine. When it comes to spring time the majority of us frantically rush to the nearest gym to start shaping our summer bodies, in an attempt to lose the bellies gained over Christmas. Soon gone will be the days of looking like a literal pig in blanket (after eating them continuously for a steady month) and in will be the beach bodies ready to show off. Ideal Wine Company deciphers, should wine be cut out from dieting plans altogether?

Ideal Wine Company Dieting
Can wine be included in your diet?

In or out?

The answer is no, wine can be enjoyed whilst dieting as new advice has shown. Tanya Zuckerbrot, R.D., creator of the F-Factor diet claims there is no need to cut wine out whilst dieting. Whilst speaking to Women’s Health Magazine she said “the key is to count calories like you would any snack” – a sigh of relief for wine lovers!

Tanya recommends: Chardonnay, Riesling, White Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc for white wine – all under 85 calories, 2.6 grams of carbs and one gram of sugar. For red wine, she suggests: Merlot, Pinot Noir or Rosé – less than three grams of carbs, one gram of sugar and 88 calories. She advises avoiding sweet dessert wines/sweet wines like marsala or sherry which have more than 14 grams of carbs, eight grams of sugar and 164 calories.

Alternative

For those that don’t want to stray from their strict diets, several producers now offer ‘Skinny Wine’. Produced by G.Tribaut, it has only 275 calories in the whole bottle compared to 500 in a normal bottle wine. In a standard 125ml flute it holds 50 calories in contrast to the usual 80-90 calories. Shockingly it has fewer calories in the whole bottle than a single large glass of some red wines.

Tips and tricks

So, what can we do to prevent overindulging? Walking in the early evening helps to keep metabolism up and slows down the body’s ‘need to feed’ impulse. Wine also increases metabolism for 70-90 minutes; however, it should be noted that it is important to drink water when you consume wine to maintain the balance of water in your cells.

Drinking wine before eating has been shown to increase appetite when it is consumed 30 minutes before eating – we suggest saving wine for a meal. If cooking whilst enjoying a glass of wine is a common occurrence, try splitting the wine into 2 servings of 3 ounces each.

Alcohol behaves much like carbohydrates; therefore, it is advised not to drink late at night. As well as this removing indulgent foods and drink from the house will reduce the temptation to have it. If it is out of sight it is said to be out of mind, resisting buying high calorie food and drink and rather swapping it for a lighter alternative.

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