Holiday fun fact: You can watch your weight and enjoy alcohol, too.
Whether your drink of choice is wine, beer or something harder, moderate social drinking doesn’t have to be cut out of your lifestyle if you’re looking to shed some pounds.
RELATED: A man’s guide to healthy alcohol consumption
Here’s how to do it right:
Wine
A five-ounce glass of red, white, or rosé has about 100 calories per glass. Many believe wine is high in sugar because it is made from grapes. However, that’s not the case because the fermentation process in wine-making converts sugars into alcohol. To top it off, the American Heart Association recommends 1-2 four-ounce servings of wine per day.
Tip: Make a glass of wine a spritzer (half wine, half club soda) and automatically cut the calories in half!
Beer
While a 12-ounce serving of beer contains 150 calories and 13g carbs, which is higher than wine and spirits, you can always opt for light versions that will save you upwards of 50 calories per serving and cut the carbs in half. Lager and wheat beers are generally lower in both calories and carbs per serving compared to heavier beers such as ales, stouts, and porters.
Tip: If beer is your drink of choice, stick to light-lagers to avoid weight gain. However, if you are an occasional beer drinker, you may opt for dark beer, which have more antioxidants and iron compared to lighter varieties.
RELATED: The 10 healthiest beers, ranked
Spirits
Hard liquor is higher in calories per-ounce than wine, but not by much. They contain zero carbs, which makes them a diet-friendly option, plus, the standard 1.5-ounce serving of spirits will only set you back 105 calories.
Tip: For a more exotic cocktail go with a flavor-infused spirit, such as Ketel One Citron — a top-shelf vodka infused with the essence of lemon and lime.
Steer Clear of Sugary Mixers
Skip common mixers like full-sugar soda, juice, tonic, and pre-mixed cocktail concoctions.
Tip: Go with your choice of spirits – vodka, rum, whiskey, or gin – then use a sugar-free mixer such as club soda, Diet Coke, diet tonic water, or a powdered water enhancer such as Borba’s Guanabana Fruit mix.
Go easy on liqueurs and cordials
Liqueurs and cordials tend to be very sweet, packing the most calories per ounce of alcohol, so enjoy them sparingly.
Best Cocktail Choices: Wine or wine spritzers, gin and diet tonic, vodka and club soda, rum and diet coke, martini, mimosa, Kahlua and coffee.
Worst Cocktail Choices: Margarita, Long Island Iced Tea, Piña Colada, Cosmopolitan.
RELATED: How your eye color affects your risk of alcoholism
Curated article from:
Fox News
