Remember this too: Even though the screwdriver you order at brunch has vodka and orange juice, mixed drinks provide little to no nutritional value - only calories. “Alcohol is not an essential nutrient,” says Somer. “It has a diuretic effect on the body. Even if you mix it with orange or cranberry juice, you are more likely to flush the nutrients out of your system.”
To help you learn what’s really in your drink, check out the following guide to the ingredients and the calorie and carb counts in some of the most common alcoholic beverages. Then turn the page to find out what you, Shape readers, are drinking, based on a recent Web survey we conducted. Cheers.
Beer
Ingredients Processed, fermented and brewed grains, most commonly barley; hops (which are from the hop plant, related to hemp) to give the brew its distinctive bitterness; and malt. Beer can range from light ales to dark stouts depending on the proportions of malt and barley. As a rule of thumb, the darker the color of the brew, the higher the calorie count.
Stats One regular 12-ounce beer has 13 grams of carbohydrate and 150 calories; a 12-ounce light beer has 5 carb grams and 100 calories.
Wine
Ingredients It’s nothing more than fermented grapes, but wine varies in flavor, smoothness and color, due to the type of grapes, climate, soil and production methods. Red wine is made from red grapes; white wine from green; and rose, or blush, from red (not a mixture of red and white, as some people believe). Research has found that red wine helps with blood circulation and, in moderation (one 4- to 6-ounce glass daily) is good for the heart
Stats One 6-ounce glass of white wine has 1.4 carb grams and 120 calories; 6 ounces of red has 3 carb grams and 128 calories; 6 ounces of rose has 2.5 carb grams and 128 calories. A 6-ounce glass of sweet dessert wine, such as Riesling, with 21 carb grams, has 270 calories.
