Bottom’s Up to Freedom!

Grab a drink and let’s CELEBRATE! It’s America’s 241st birthday! We may be a young country, but there’s certainly one thing we have mastered: drinking. America sure knows how to throw ‘em back with the best of ‘em. This Independence Day, make healthier drinking choices with a little help from Spectra Wellness.

[Warning: preachy advice ahead]… It must be said that we are a medical office so we do need to quickly note that this blog does not encourage excessive or binge drinking. Moderation is always key to a happy and healthy holiday.

That being said, here is a short guide to making the best alcohol choices now, and well, ever.

LIQUOR

Surprisingly, liquor can be one of the best choices for your diet. While not necessarily low in calories (in general, the higher the alcohol content, the higher the calories), most liquors have little to no sugars, carbs, or gluten.  We’re talking about unflavored:

Vodka
Tequila
Gin
Whiskey*
Rum

Brandy
Scotch*

As we have been learning in the nutritional world, calories aren’t necessarily a deal-breaker. It’s the sugar and carb content that can hinder weight loss or cause health issues. Liquor alone is very diet friendly, it’s the mixers we need to watch. Most mixers are basically all sugar. That means all those juices, soft drinks and energy drinks. Go ahead and switch those out for flavored or unflavored soda water (0 calorie, 0 sugar) and we’re back in business.

*There is a lot of disagreement among experts as to whether whiskey or scotch can be considered gluten-free due to the distillation process that is said to kill the gluten protein. Our advice: take it slow and drink with caution if gluten intolerant.

 RED & WHITE WINE

Dry wines are the lowest in sugar and carb content and generally very diet friendly. Wines can be a little deceiving because one would think that something made from grapes would be naturally gluten-free. However, gluten and yeast can be added during the aging process so just be wary if you’re going sans gluten this holiday. Whether you enjoy the reds or the whites, there are choices for everyone. You’ll just have to leave the sweet wines on the shelf and reach for these instead:

Cabernet Sauvignon (red)
Merlot (red)
Pinot Noir (red)
Pinot Grigio (white)

Chardonnay (white)
Riesling (white) 

Too bad there aren’t blue wines as that would round out this whole patriotic, Independence Day blog pretty nicely. That’s OK though, Meatloaf taught us that two out of three ain’t bad.

BEER

Obviously, light or gluten-free beers are a better diet choice but beer is just never going to be healthy. Sorry. At least there’s tequila???

 

Happy Independence Day from Spectra Wellness and a hearty CHEERS to your newly found dietary FREEDOM.

 

 

 

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