Understanding the relationship between the Atkins diet and wine is very important to anyone starting or maintaining their diet. Atkins is a specific diet with high regulations on carbohydrates. There are three steps in Atkins, and wine plays a role in each of them. To be successful in Atkins, you'll need to adjust your wine drinking tendencies to meet the goals of the diet. The good news is that wine isn't always bad.
Atkins Diet and Wine: When It's a No
Atkins has an initial phase called Induction. During this initial phase of the diet plan, there is a very specific limit on the number of carbohydrates you can take in. This phase is essential to starting the plan since the body must be flushed of harmful carbohydrates. In order to see the outstanding results you hope for with Atkins, you must follow induction for the first two weeks.
Wine is mentioned in the Atkins diet. During induction, you are unable to drink any wine, of any type. Even if you find a wine that has no or very small amounts of carbohydrates, it is recommended that you don't drink wine. To see the results of Atkins, don't drink wine at all during Induction.
Wine does have a very low carbohydrate count. Yet, this is not why you shouldn't drink it during the first stage of the diet plan. The Atkins designer noted that wine, because of its content, causes the blood sugar to spike. Blood sugar adjustments can be sporadic while drinking wine. When blood sugar does spike, the body tends to crave excessive amounts of sweets. You'll be more likely to eat during this time as well. Therefore, by removing wine from the menu during Induction, you protect yourself from the unnecessary risk of consuming foods not allowed.
Wine After Induction
After the initial Induction phase, the Atkins diet teaches you how to increase the number of carbohydrates you take in. Gradually, you will add in any and all carbohydrates as the diet directs. Wine can be included, especially during the final Maintenance phase. When you do add wine into your diet, though, realize you will need to count it as part of your carbohydrate count. Most wines do have a very low amount of carbohydrates in them. Nevertheless, they count towards your daily limit.
During any phase in which you are losing weight at a steady rate, you should try to avoid drinking wine as much as possible. It could contradict your efforts to lose weight.
Drinking Wine Successfully on Atkins
Here are some specific tips to help you with wine consumption during Atkins.
- The carbohydrates in alcohol in general don't stop your body from burning fat, unlike the carbohydrates found in sugars.
- The Atkins Diet does allow for you to drink wine after your initial weight loss phases. Yet, drinking excessively is not recommended.
- Atkins recommends drinking no more than 3 ½ ounces of wine, which contains 4.3 grams of carbohydrates, on average.
- Avoid sweet wines which contain additional sugars which will interfere with your diet. Wines such as Sangria, brandies and some port wines are common problematic wines.
- Look for old world wines to incorporate into your drinking lifestyle. Bordeaux from France is a good option.
- Limit wine drinking to no more than one glass of alcohol per day, whenever possible.
- Readily use wine as a flavoring in your cooking process. Wine is a fantastic way to add flavor to vegetables and can be added as you like.
To determine the number of calories in any wine, use this calculator provided by WineIntro.com.
Wine is a term used here to mean just fruit based alcohol beverages traditionally called wines. The same measures should not be taken for other forms of alcohol. Dr. Atkins insists that wine is the best form of alcohol to drink during Atkins's phases after Induction, if you must drink some form of alcohol. After wine, choose scotch, gin or vodka, but on a limited basis. The goal of any alcoholic drink should be moderation and no added sugars, including tonic water or juice.
To learn more about Atkins diet and wine, visit the Atkins website.
