Excess sugar consumption has been linked with health problems, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up wine

One of the most prominently and consistently warned-against nutritional hazards of the past few decades is excessive sugar consumption. Sugar has been linked with health problems including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and tooth decay, to name a few. Is wine’s sugar content something that drinkers should worry about?

Without sugar, there is no wine. Ripe grapes naturally contain sugars, and in the process of turning grape juice into wine, most of the sugars are converted into alcohol via fermentation. Any sugar that remains after the fermentation process is called residual sugar. This is the primary source of a wine's sugar content.

Though there aren't any hard-and-fast rules determining exactly how many sugars a specific type of wine will contain, there are still ways to get a good sense of how much sugar is in your glass of wine—the obvious one, of course, being how sweet the wine tastes. (Just don’t confuse fruitiness for sweetness!)

You can also pick up some clues without opening the bottle: Generally, if a wine is described as dry ,that means there are less than 10 grams per litre of residual sugar; a "sweet" or dessert wine has more than 30 grams per litre. Wines that fall in the middle of these limits are called "off-dry."

For Champagne and other sparkling wines, keywords to look out for are, in order from driest to sweetest extra brut, brut, extra dry or extra sec, sec, demi-sec and doux.

The USDA also offers some guidance: According to its website, an average dry table wine has 1 to 2 grams of sugar in a standard 5-ounce serving, and sweet wines, such as Sauternes, Port and ice wine, which are usually served in smaller amounts, contain around 8 grams of sugar per 3.5-ounce pour (though this can vary)

The good news is that wine, a product of fruit, almost always contains only natural sugars, which health experts do not put a limit on. But that does not mean you can go bananas with the sweet stuff! It is especially important to be mindful of your total sugar intake if you also consume a lot of soda, desserts or processed foods.

It does appear that wine in particular might have a stronger protective effect against diabetes than other beverages. A 2016 study found that while wine, beer and spirits each were associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk, those in the study that drank wine experienced a significantly lower risk.

It is believed that these benefits are due to alcohol's (and potentially, in particular, wine's) ability to increase insulin sensitivity, which allows the body to better process sugars and regulate blood-sugar levels.

"In general, it is considered beneficial to have one glass of red wine [a day], and there are studies that show that," said Joy Cornthwaite, a registered dietitian and diabetes educator at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. "But … there are some drugs that promote low blood sugar, and if you take those in the presence of alcohol, it’s very dangerous, because if a person has liver-function issues, then their liver doesn’t kick in and provide them with extra glucose," which is protective against low blood sugar.

How to fit wine into a low-sugar diet

If you're concerned about your sugar intake, but don't want to give up wine, you're in luck. Wine, namely dry table wine and brut bubbly, are widely considered all-clear for low-sugar diets. In fact, the majority of wines, beers and spirits contain little to no sugar. (However, when it comes to liquor, watch out for those mixers!)

But if you like your wines with a little residual sugar, or you’re really trying to cut back on your sugar intake, there are ways to drink and still keep your nutrition goals in check. The first thing to keep in mind is how much you are drinking. The current recommendation from the USDA Dietary Guidelines is no more than one drink a day for women, and no more than two for men. And pour size matters too: "The [standard wine] serving size is 5 ounces … if you fill your glass appropriately and you don’t get a party-size glass … the sugar content is usually less than 5 grams, for sure," Cornthwaite said.

Bradshaw offers another tip: "If you want the wine, you can make a cut somewhere else, like instead of dessert, having wine." Just don't give up the healthy natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables—those are the good ones! And don't replace a whole meal with a glass of wine.

It really does come down to the choices that you make. If you’re committed to following good nutrition habits, and consulting your doctor when making health decisions, wine can be the sweetness on top of a well-balanced lifestyle.