Holiday parties can pose a problem for those who want to cut back on sugar and carbs. While many of the food options are clear cut, alcohol may be a challenge. Fortunately, according to Sarah Wilson, best-selling author of ”I Quit Sugar,” there are several ways you can enjoy holiday spirits without blowing your diet. Writing for writing for mindbodygreen.com, she provides these tips:
Low-Sugar Options
Wine. The minimal fructose found in table wine is from fermented grapes, making it low in sugar. Red wine is lower in fructose than white wine, making it the better choice, says Wilson. Nutritionists also love wine because it’s loaded with healthy flavonoids and resveratrol, a compound that has been linked to lowering cholesterol levels.
Spirits
Dry spirits like gin, vodka and whiskey are very low in fructose and generally one of the better beverage options. Drink them straight on ice or with plain soda or seltzer and a twist of lime or lemon. Most commercial mixers are loaded with sugar.
Beer
Beer and stout contain maltose, not fructose, which we metabolize very well. While beer can be high in calories, it trumps wine when it comes to supplying B vitamins, phosphorus, folate and niacin according to Charlie Bamforth, a professor of brewing sciences at the University of California, Davis. Beer also has significant protein and some fiber.
High-Sugar Options
Champagne and sparkling wine. These beverages tend to retain a lot of sugar during their processing and are therefore not great choices.
Dessert Wines
A lot of sugar is left in unfermented dessert wines. Avoid entirely if you are cutting back on sugar.
Here are more expert tips:
- Drink spirits with seltzer, soda, or neat. Mixers, including tonic water, are full of sugar with up to 10 teaspoons in one tall glass. The same goes for mixing alcohol with fruit juice. A good low-sugar holiday drink is a vodka seltzer with lemon juice, says Rebecca Ditkoff, R.D., CUNY School of Public Health.
- Try a Bloody Mary, extra spicy. Abbey Sharp, R.D. of Abbey’s Kitchen chooses this adult beverage because the mix is low in sugar and the extra spiciness encourages her to drink more water.
- Detoxing from sugar can put a strain on your liver so drinking more than one glass of alcohol with a meal daily can upset your system. Dr. David A. Greuner, managing director and co-founder of NYC Surgical Associates suggests “detoxing” your drink by adding berries such as blueberries, cranberries or pomegranates to help protect your cells and make alcohol less harsh on the body.
- Another warning, according to Wilson, is that when you eliminate sugar from your diet, you may have a lower tolerance to alcohol altogether. Some folks need to avoid it completely.
- While alcohol is low in fructose, it’s very high in empty calories. A beer is like a sausage roll, it may be low in sugar but it packs a high calorie punch, says Wilson.