Drinking Alcohol On A Diet

Consumer advocacy groups launched a campaign to urge liquor companies to put more nutritional information on their packaging, saying current labeling rules are haphazard and hard to decipher. Two major groups, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the National Consumers League, petitioned the federal government to require uniform labeling for liquor much like what's already required on food-product packaging.

The proposed labels would include information on alcohol content, serving sizes, calories and ingredients.

The low-carb, high-protein dieting trend should be terrific news for liquor makers: Rum, vodka, gin, whisky and tequila contain no carbs or fat at all, and never have.

All of this has triggered a wave of new marketing campaigns. Diageo, which makes Captain Morgan Original Spiced rum and Johnnie Walker, urged bartenders to promote holiday-themed drinks such as a Johnnie Walker Red Label and Ginger, a mix of scotch and diet ginger ale that clocked in at 96 calories, about the same as three rice cakes.

Allied Domecq, which makes Kahlua, also targeted barkeepers and encouraged them to offer "skinny" White Russians made with skim milk instead of regular milk. The drink has roughly half the calories (229) and two-thirds the carbs (18) of a normal White Russian.

Phillips Distilling recently launched a low-carb campaign for its UV vodka and told distributors to cross-market it with products like Crystal Light sugar-free lemonade.

Still, drinking on a diet is harder than it looks. A pint of regular beer can have up to 150 calories and 13 grams of carbs. The Atkins diet bans all alcohol, at least during early days, as does the South Beach Diet, which stresses eating the right carbs and the right fats.

For dieters who choose to drink, Weight Watchers recommends drinking moderately, which is defined as one drink per day for women and two drinks for men.

Liquors become diet busters because they're often served with sweet juices and sugar. A simple pina colada can rack up 27 grams of carbs and 236 calories per a typical 9 oz. serving, of which only 2 oz. is usually alcohol. Plus, drinking can weaken inhibitions, making people likely to indulge in wild behavior such as eating pasta.

Avoiding high-calorie mixers can make a big difference. Subbing Diet Coke in a rum and Coke cuts the calories to 66 from 209 and the carbs to nearly zero from 21 grams. Club soda instead of regular soda will save someone who drinks three to four a week, thousands of
calories a month.

It's tough to make an argument that a bar is a good place to maintain a diet. Consider the final pitfall: Mindlessly grazing the bar snacks. Three handfuls of mixed nuts can silently harbor a whopping 500 calories.