There are an estimated sixty million Americans on some type of low or now carb diet such as the South Beach diet and the Atkins diet. Many people ask what the low carb rating of wine is, so a US regulatory decision in 2004 permitted wine producers to market dry table wines as being low carb as long as they had their nutritional information on the label.

This regulation allowed the product to be labeled low carb as long as the wine contained fewer than seven grams of carbs in a five ounce serving. Almost every single dry table wine can easily meet this requirement. Low carb diets must avoid sweeter wines such as White Zinfandels and other “blush” wines because they fail to meet these requirements by far.

There have even been recent health claims that wine has powerful antioxidants in them which can help block against free radicals, and prevent heart disease, and cancer. In red whines you are able to benefit from polyphenol, catechin, and cholesterol lowering resveratrol.

Low carb dieters are worried about their wine’s residual sugar content. A great indication as to the number of carbs in a wine can be its dryness or sweetness, generally the sweeter tasting, the more carbs.

Some claim that they have a wine that doesn’t have any carbs but that is obviously impossible considering the mechanics of fermentation. The process of turning sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation is limited by the yeast and would no longer be considered wine but brandy. It is safe to say that all wines have some level of residual sugar left behind after the fermentation process was complete and residual sugar is equal to carbs.

Even if you are on a strict low carb diet you are still able to enjoy many delicious wines with your meals as long as you have them in moderation.