Counting calories is second nature to many. However, how many people count the calories of their beverages? Calories from food and drinks can add up quickly when you’re having a good time. For example, each glass of wine will add approximately 125 calories to your daily allotment. If you manage to finish a bottle of red wine, you have consumed over 650 calories.
When you add the evening’s menu of chicken parmesan and all the trimmings, you have consumed an entire day’s worth of calories at dinner.
Whoa, and you wonder why the scale won’t move. However, my weakness isn’t wine; instead, it is a second spoon of sugar in my morning tea. If I slide and go for that extra spoon of sugar for a week or two, the scale slowly moves upward, and my pants get tighter.
So, I understand the desire for another glass of chardonnay, or perhaps a small glass of Port after dinner. However, it would be best to count your liquid calories, too, or they will take a toll on your waistline.
Calories in a Bottle and a Glass of Wine
A five-ounce glass of red wine has about 125 calories, and there are 5.3 glasses of wine in a 750-milliliter bottle. The total number of calories in a bottle of wine is approximately 663 calories.
Not every wine has the same calories. Rose wines and White wines have fewer calories than red wines.
Red wine has more calories because it has higher sugar content. More sugar means more alcohol, which is where the calories in beer come from.
The sweetest of all wines, Fortified wines have more calories than any wine you will drink. Therefore, they are typically reserved for consumption before and after dinner, usually in small amounts.
How Many Calories Are in Popular Wines?
The number of calories in a bottle of any wine will vary from one label to the other. However, the following numbers will give you guidelines for the next time you are at a cocktail party or dinner and want to stick to your diet.
Take note: Champagne has the least number of calories per five-ounce serving of any wine. I know there was a reason I fancied champagne!
Calories per 5 ounces of popular wines:
- Calories in Champagne – 95 calories (483 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Rose Wine – 110 calories (559 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Dry white wine – 120 calories (610 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Red wine -125 calories (635 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Sweet white wine -140 calories (711 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Sherry (a fortified wine) – 188 calories (955 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Port (a fortified wine) – 230 calories (1168 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
As you can see, there is a significant variance between the number of calories in a glass of champagne and Port!
Of course, Port is generally served in two-ounce portions, as it is very sweet and a little will go a long way. It also has a higher alcohol content than other wines, so keep that in mind if you develop a taste for Port or Sherry.
These wines are generally served in two-ounce portions for the same reason; they are very sweet.
How Many Calories Are in Your Favorite Wines?
Calories per 5 ounces of some favorite wines:
- Calories in Prosecco – 98 calories (498 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Sauvignon Blanc – 120 calories (610 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Pinot Noir – 120 calories (610 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Riesling – 120 calories (610 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Cabernet Sauvignon – 122 calories (620 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Pinot Grigio – 122 calories (620 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
- Calories in Chardonnay – 123 calories (625 calories per 25.4oz or 750ml bottle)
Sugar and Carbs in Wine
The carbs in wine come from the natural sugar in the grapes from which the wine is made.
As a result, some wines have higher or lower sugar content than others. The sugar content can depend on the weather, the time of year it is harvested, and whether or not the vintner adds sugar to the wine to speed up its fermentation process.
Most of the calories in wine come from alcohol, not sugar.
For example, most table wine is dry, and a five-ounce glass will only have from one to four carbohydrates per serving. This small amount of carbs and sugar equates to less than 20 calories in a glass of wine.
Therefore, most of the calories found there come from alcohol, not carbs or the residual sugars that remain after the wine is fermented.
Related: How much sugar in a glass of wine?
Weight Loss and Alcohol Intake
A small amount of red wine can help with weight loss as it helps burn fat. However, when you intake more calories than you expend, they go around your waist, hang on your hips, and overall will weigh you down.
Living your life on a perpetual diet can be a challenge, especially something like a keto diet. Keto diets restricts the amount of carbs you can have to a small amount.
Knowing your limitations and the pleasures you can indulge in helps with the task of dieting. Liquids stealthily add calories to our diets, even your favorite wine.
If you fail to count or consider the calories, your diet will be in vain.
Tips For Burning Off One Glass of Wine
How much energy will you need to expend to burn those extra calories away if you drink a glass of wine, or two, or three?
Following are the times it will take you to perform certain activities to burn off 110 calories, the average number of calories in a five-ounce glass of wine.
- Walking at a normal pace – 27 minutes
- Running at an elevated pace – 6 minutes
- Get active with some yoga – 38 minutes
- Shoot some hoops and play basketball – 15 minutes
- Take care of some house work and iron – 52 minutes
- Get active with aerobics – 13 minutes
- Swimming some laps in the pool or ocean – 14 minutes
- Knock down some pins with bowling – 31 minutes
- Get active and go dancing – 23 minutes
- Jogging at a brisk pace – 11 minutes
- Mowing the lawn – 20 minutes
- Gardening in the yard – 31 minutes
It takes a lot longer to burn 110 calories than consume them.
So one glass of wine can throw your diet off for a week or more. Unless you cheat somewhere else to make up for the added caloric intake, you will need to exercise a little longer to work them off.
How Much Wine Should You Have?
Studies find that women should have no more than one glass of wine per day (5 ounces), and men should have no more than two (10 ounces).
In these quantities, red wine has a health benefit. Anything more can be harmful to your health.
Of course, we all find ourselves in situations, on occasion, that might call for a second or third glass of wine.
Deviating from what’s healthy every once in a while won’t harm you; however, making a habit of consuming more wine than is healthy can affect your health in many ways.
Wine and Health Concerns
A small amount of wine daily can be beneficial to your health, especially red wines. However, consuming too much alcohol can have the exact opposite effect.
Those who drink alcohol in large amounts can develop heart problems, mental problems, dependence, liver problems, certain types of cancer, pancreatic problems, and diabetes.
It is easy to fall into the habit of consuming more than a glass or two of wine at a time. But, when you get with your friends to socialize, time flies and the drinks flow freely.
However, if you restrain yourself, you won’t need to run an extra hour next week or add fifty laps to your swim routine.
The number of health problems that overindulgence in wine can cause is well documented. However, so are the benefits.
Suppose you have the discipline to restrict yourself to a glass or two of wine a day. In that case, the benefits will far outweigh abstaining from this libation altogether.
Drinking Wine Has Health Benefits
A study about red wine indicates that the resveratrol and other antioxidants it contains can improve your health.
Early indicators show these compounds in red wine can help with inflammation, control sugar levels, and improve overall heart health.
Knowing the number of calories in the food and beverages we consume is half of the battle in weight maintenance.
For example, three ounces of spinach dip (146 calories) and two glasses of red wine (250 calories) mean you’ve consumed about 396 calories. In that case, you can stop eating and drinking wine and go to soda water or fudge the numbers elsewhere.
Fortunately, wine and its effects on overall health have been studied extensively.
One study claims red wine can be beneficial in helping the body burn fat when consumed in moderate amounts. However, those little five-ounce glasses of wine at 125 calories each can add up quickly and blow your diet off the scale.
Most menus have the number of calories per serving of every item listed. However, they seem to leave the numbers from beer, wine, and mixed drinks unpublished in plain view.
So, unless you have a good idea of the number of calories per glass of wine you consume, it will be hard to know if you are sticking to your diet or way off course. Not to mention whether you are consuming wine in a healthy manner.
Are All Types of Wine Healthy to Drink?
Like most things, moderation is key.
All grapes have antioxidants. However, red grapes are higher in polyphenols than white grapes.
They have been shown to reduce inflammation, and oxidative stress, within our bodies. If that alone is not reason enough to drink red wine, there is always the flavor and how wine pairs with foods to bring out every nuance of taste.
Different foods call for various wines and special occasions for champagne.
Whether red wine or white is your flavor of choice, knowing the number of calories you consume can help you enjoy your wine while staying within your diet.
Remember, too, that not only can too much wine cause you to veer from your diet, it can also cause mental impairment now and when you wake up not feeling so hot.
So, keeping your consumption of wine within reason can benefit your health today and tomorrow.
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