Red wine has been shown to prolong life, hold back cancer and heart disease as well as provide many other health benefits. Luckily, it's the perfect complement to the Atkins, South Beach and other low carb diet plans!

You might think that grapes are full of sugar - but the entire point of fermentation is for a yeast to eat that sugar and turn it into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The whole reason the wine has alcohol is that the sugar was destroyed. While there might be trace amounts of sugar left in the resulting wine, the primary reason for a calorie count in wine is the alcohol.

Wine, or any alcohol, is not appropriate for people in the first 2 weeks of a low carb diet. Part of the first two week process is evening out your blood sugar level, and alcohol lowers blood sugar levels. While this is good in general, you want to have NO effects on your blood sugar levels during those first 2 weeks so that your body becomes stabilized.

Once those first 2 weeks are done, you should feel free to have a glass or two of wine as part of a healthy diet. A glass of red wine only has about 1g of carbs in it. No wine has sugar added to it, so you really don't have to worry about finding a "low sugar red". The only wines to be cautious of are Late Harvest / Icewines - these are harvested late in the year and are not fully fermented, leaving sugar behind in the wine. These are normally white wines and are clearly labelled.

So enjoy red wine with your low carb lunch or dinner! The red wine will help enhance the flavor of your meal, it raises your good cholesterol levels to help offset any fat you're eating, it lowers chances of cancer, heart disease, strokes, ulcers, and more. Recent research shows that it helps prolong life in general. This is a drink to toast to your health with!

Low Carb Charts by Lisa Shea A must have reference guide for any low carber. Keep the carb counts of fruits, veggies, meats, alcoholic drinks and more at your fingertips. More Details ...