How Many Weight Watchers Points are in Wine?

Celebrating events, milestones or birthdays should not come at a calorific cost. Having a glass of wine with friends while putting the world to rights shouldn’t set you off track on your diet for the week.

Particularly in the post-pandemic era, with our social calendars filling up, there is a seemingly endless stream of social occasions calling our collective names. So why, when it comes to alcohol, is making the healthy choice so difficult?

Discovering how your favourite wines can fit into your sustainable, healthy lifestyle can pay dividends when out and about and having to make snappy, responsible decisions. Read more to find out the danger zones you’ll have to navigate to still see successful weight loss while still enjoying your favourite wine from time to time.

Danger Zones

The issue with alcohol, particularly when it comes to healthy living, is the fact that the alcohol in your favourite drinks does not fit into the three main macronutrient categories of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

In protein, there are four calories per gram of protein. likewise for carbohydrates but when it comes to fats there are more than double the calories for each gram, coming in at a whopping 9kcal per gram. But when you look more closely at alcohol there is, perplexingly, 7kcal per gram.

This means that the calories that are derived from alcohol are near enough completely empty. Simply put, this means that they pack the usual units of energy but without the nutritional value or essential nutrients that make the other macronutrients worthwhile. Therefore, when consumed in excess they still deliver the same calorific punch but without any of the benefits or impacts on health, hunger or satiety.

Quick Tips

Small life hacks can partially, or totally, sidestep the issue of overconsuming empty alcohol calories. One method usually heard of as a way of avoiding becoming too drunk is to have a glass of water between each alcoholic beverage - this can keep you fuller and less likely to desire more liquid.

Even your choice of glass can subconsciously impact your intake of calories from alcohol with studies showing that squatter, shorter glasses can lead to us pouring thirty percent more alcohol in them compared to taller glasses.

Further Hazards

Additionally, you are far more inclined to go off the rails and ditch your diet if you have had a serving or two more alcohol than was perhaps necessary. It is due to the altering of the chemistry in your brain, that when you have overindulged in alcoholic beverages the intoxicating aromas in food are processed differently by your brain leading to a propensity to simultaneously overindulge in food too.

And, with your inhibitions lowered to such an extent you can only imagine that the foods you choose to overindulge in are probably not the healthy recipes you’d hope for, but more like three pizzas and a serving of fries. So next time you drink, have a look at how many Weight Watchers points are in your glass for a quick and easy comparison.

The Quick Fix

To circumvent this issue, you can also allow yourself a healthy snack beforehand, the clean foods will not only line your stomach but will also have vastly higher levels of satisfying nutrients. Slow digesting carbohydrates and healthy fats are both known to slow down the absorption of alcohol.

How Can WW Be the Answer?

Luckily the guys over at Weight Watchers have somewhat clarified this tricky market for us. They have given all foods and drinks a SmartPoints number - and from there the playing field is levelled. There are no more extensive comparisons while standing in supermarket aisles to see if you can fit a glass of wine OR a dessert into your health and wellness focussed lifestyle.

The SmartPoints system doesn’t just clarify the market for those who follow a Weight Watchers diet or pay close attention to their diet however when it is boiled down to points, it’s a simple case of just comparing what treats and indulgences have more SmartPoints in and choosing more wisely while better informed.

Just by taking the time to learn the SmartPoints system, it can take a great deal of the guesswork out of making a more informed choice of wine that won’t jeopardise your health interests. Because believe it or not there are choices of wine that can massively impact the number of calories that are in your food and that you ultimately consume.

In general, red wine tends to be fairly high in terms of SmartPoints with a small 175-millilitre glass packing four SmartPoints. Compared to a single twenty-five-millilitre measure of gin which has just two SmartPoints.

Meaning for the same units of alcohol, around two, you can have one small glass of red wine or a double measure of gin and slimline tonic. Sparkling wines and Proseccos are, however, in general, the highest SmartPoints cost to one’s diet with five smart points per one hundred and seventy-five-millilitre glass. If knowledge is power, then information is the building blocks of knowledge.

Looking at how these values compare to other indulgent treats, there are five SmartPoints in three standard rashers of cooked, crispy bacon. A two-inch square of chocolate brownie prepared from brownie mix is equally five SmartPoints. Shockingly, just one-eighth of a fourteen-inch, thin-crust, one-meat pizza is a diet jeopardising nine SmartPoints.

This means that for this single slice of a fourteen-inch pizza you could have two small glasses of red or, not that we are advising this but, four and a half measures of gin. However, bananas, eggs, apples, strawberries, blueberries and watermelon are all zero SmartPoint foods, so snacking isn’t all doom and gloom.

Are There Any Lower-Calorie Options Out There That Will Impact My Diet Less?

The knowledge that ThinK Wine’s Prosecco has just sixty-two kcal and zero grams of carbs per one hundred millilitre glass, compared to a regular Prosecco that has around eighty-five to ninety calories and a gram of sugar in the same volume is highly valuable. Read here for how much sugar content is in wine.

Lower alcohol options have by far the biggest effect on the calorie content and therefore, their impact on your waistline, with low alcohol glasses coming in at three SmartPoints and their full alcohol counterparts having five SmartPoints. However, lower carb and low sugar options also play a massive factor in staying in the necessary calorie deficit to sustain maintainable weight loss. If you want to know more on the best low carb wines for you to enjoy, check out our blog post on it here. 

Above all, try not to forget that even the most responsible decisions when it comes to alcohol and wine are entirely squandered if you have already consumed a calorie surplus before even considering the drinks. After all, all weight loss is founded on consistent calorie deficits that accumulate to gradual, manageable weight loss. You must burn more calories than you consume.

Image by Kari Bjorn Photography:
www.karibjorn.com/weddings-engagements