Wine contributes few carbs but around 160 calories per cup, with only sweet dessert wines tipping the scales in both calories and carbs. One way to make your one delicious cup of wine last longer is to make a spritzer by blending wine with an equal amount of seltzer, club soda, or diet 7 UP. Purists, of course, can simply sip theirs as is, or enjoy it with a meal.

Wine (1-cup)	Calories	Carbohydrate (g)
Dry White Wine	158	1.5
Medium White Wine	160	1.9
Red Wine	170	4
Sweet Dessert Wine	362	28

Hard & Fancy Drinks

The sky is the limit here. From a tomato juice-based Bloody Mary's reasonable 115 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrates, to a daiquiri with 224 calories and a bit more carbohydrates. Liqueurs can be even more potent. Amaretto, for example, has 106 calories and more than 13 grams of carbohydrates in one-eighth cup. Enjoy your liqueur longer by adding it to something low in calories, like coffee. Making a White Russian? Use low-fat (1%) milk and you'll save 50 calories and 6 grams of fat per cup.

Alcoholic Beverage	Calories	Carbohydrate (g)
Gin/rum/vodka/whiskey (1/8 cup)	65	0
Amaretto Liqueur (1/8 cup)	106	13.3
Coffee & Cream Liqueur	99	6.3
Bloody Mary (5 ounces)	115	5
Daiquiri (4 ounces)	224	8.2
Martini (2.5 ounces)	156	0.2
Screwdriver (7 ounces)	175	18.3

What About the Health Benefits?

The research on alcohol and wine offers drinkers a mixed bag of health benefits. People who limit alcohol have a lower risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and bone loss, (women also having a lower risk of breast cancer). But moderate drinking helps lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

So, while alcohol, particularly red wine, has been shown to have some protective effects for some cancers and heart disease, these studies were applied to moderate amounts of alcohol. And many health benefits are nullified once obesity enters the picture.

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