A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
Sunny and warm weather is here, outdoor parties are upon us, and with all of that comes drinking. Many people love a cooler of cold beers or popping bottles of rosé on long weekends with friends. At the same time, more and more people are choosing alcohol alternatives for a wide range of reasons, which is a whole separate conversation. With the growing interest in living alcohol-free or simply drinking less, I’m getting more questions as a health coach about non-alcoholic beer and wine options that are filling store shelves. Let’s take a look at what’s inside these products and what to consider before keeping them in your fridge.
Full transparency, I haven’t personally tried many of these options, so I leaned on available research and brand information to understand whether their appeal goes beyond being zero proof. If you do your own research, which I always encourage, you will find plenty of articles ranking taste, styles, and brand popularity. What I want to focus on here is the nutritional picture and how these alcohol alternatives may or may not fit into a realistic wellness approach.
The first thing we need to clear up is what non-alcoholic actually means. Some products labeled non-alcoholic can still contain alcohol! In most cases, non-alcoholic drinks contain up to 0.5% alcohol by volume. While it may be unlikely, it is technically possible for this to register on a breathalyzer, depending on how much you drink. To put that into perspective, it would take about ten non-alcoholic beers to equal the alcohol content of one typical beer. On the wine side, anything with up to 0.5% alcohol is labeled non-alcoholic, while alcohol free means 0% alcohol. These definitions come from FDA regulations and are important to keep in mind when reading labels and deciding what works for you.
Once we understand the labeling, a couple of other questions come up. What are these products made of? Is there anything notable nutritionally beyond having less or no alcohol?
Well, let’s start with beer. Traditional beer is produced through fermentation, a process where yeast converts sugars into alcohol. Fermented foods can play a role in gut health, which I’ve talked about before on my podcast. To reduce or remove alcohol, manufacturers can stop fermentation early, dilute the beer after fermentation, remove alcohol through heating, or create a beverage from scratch that mimics the taste and texture of beer. Each method has tradeoffs, and different brands use different approaches. Ultimately, preference plays a big role.
Looking at a specific example, Athletic Brewing Company offers a non-alcoholic beer called Run Wild IPA. The ingredient list includes water, malted barley, oats, hops, wheat, and yeast. A 12-oz can contains 65 calories, 16 grams of carbohydrates, and 0 grams of protein and fat. From a health coach’s perspective, this straightforward labeling is appreciated! Every brand will differ, and even large companies like Budweiser now have non-alcoholic beer options. No matter the brand, reading the label is essential.
Non-alcoholic wine follows a similar pattern. It starts as regular wine and then goes through a process called de-alcoholization to remove the alcohol. Because wine-drinkers often care deeply about aroma, color, and mouthfeel, removing alcohol can change the experience. Some manufacturers add ingredients like sugar to compensate for those changes. When you see the term “wine alternative,” it usually means the beverage was created from something else entirely, such as kombucha, tea, or vinegar, to recreate a wine-like experience. Again, labels matter.
One popular option found online is a rosé is one that comes from Thomson and Scott called Noughty Rouge. The ingredients include de-alcoholized Syrah wine and sulfites. A quick word on sulfites. They occur naturally during fermentation, though when they are listed as an ingredient, it suggests they may have been added afterward, which is not my favorite detail. Nutritionally, a 125 milliliter glass contains about 17.5 calories, 0 grams of fat, 4.4 grams of carbohydrates, just over 3 grams of sugar, minimal protein, and very little sodium. With no alcohol present, some people may still notice they don’t feel their best after drinking it, possibly due to added ingredients. Everyone responds differently, so personal awareness is key.
We could read labels on these products all day, because there are so many brands and variations on the market. There is no universal answer here. Each person has to weigh their own pros and cons, sometimes even through trial and error, to see how these alcohol alternatives make them feel. If you are curious about non-alcoholic beer or wine, you can likely find an option that fits your preferences. Pay attention to the ingredient list, consider how it aligns with your version of realistic wellness, and make the choice that works best for you. With the global market for these products already valued in the hundreds of billions and projected to grow significantly in the coming years, they are clearly here to stay.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that if you or someone you know is struggling with their relationship with alcohol, support is available. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline can be reached at 1–800–622-HELP (4357).