News

SPIN Media is hosting a sweepstakes where you can win a trip to the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. To enter, you need to submit a recipe using UV Vodka by September 30, 2009. The winner will be randomly selected.

I’m bringing this up because there are a few of the UV Vodkas you may want to add to your low-carb supply shelf. Their plain vodka (UV Vodka) and Citruv flavors each have 0 carbs per serving. The lightly-sweetened Cherry, Grape, Vanilla and Orange flavors all have 3 carbs per 1.5 oz serving. While that’s not carb-free, it’s a pretty low carb count compared to more highly-sweetened flavored liqueurs. And the fact that they have the old standy-by flavors (citrus and orange) PLUS some unique flavors (we love the grape!) means there are a lot of creative opportunities for drink mixtures.

Be sure to enter the recipe sweepstakes. But if you create something delicious that’s low-carb, we’d love to hear about it, too!

Low-carb dieters in Canada may be interested in ALIVE, a new 80-calorie, zero-carbohydrate vodka-based drink.

Describing the product as having a “crisp, not-too-sweet taste,” distributors Independent Distillers Canada say their goal is a healthier drink. It’s gluten-free and sweetened with sucralose to avoid aspartame’s health concerns. Flavors include grapefruit, lemon lime and mixed berry.

For more details, see the Independent Distillers Canada website.

MillerCoors has announced they’re putting their Miller Chill beer on a diet. The reformulated beer will have 100 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrates per 12-ounce serving, down from the current 110 calories and 6.5 grams of carbs. See a comparison of various beers’ carbs & calories here.

Look for the new Miller Chill (in its new clear bottle) in stores next month.

Source: The Business Journal

Alcohol Without Liquid (AWOL), a method of consuming alcohol via vaporizer, may be harmful to the lungs, says a new article on ADVANCE for Physician Assistants. AWOL is advertised as a low-carb, low-calorie alternative to drinking. Liquor is inhaled, so it enters the bloodstream through the lungs instead of through the stomach.

According to Neil Schachter, MD, professor of pulmonary medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, inhaled alcohol is linked with bronchospasm in studies. By depressing immune defenses, it could lead to bronchitis, pneumonia and atelectasis.

Inhaling booze circumvents the protective posturing of the liver as well. “The liver takes years to develop cirrhosis. The rest of the body does not have its defenses. Without the first-pass protection, alcohol goes directly to the lungs and brain with the potential of damage to both organs.”

Read the full article for more on the potential dangers of inhaling alcohol. And be sure to check out our recipes page if you want low-carb alcohol options that don’t pose a danger to your lungs.

If you’ve ever been frustrated at the lack of nutrition labeling on beers, this is the book for you. Bob Skilnik’s Does My BUTT Look BIG In This BEER? provides the nutritional values of 2,000 worldwide beers, making it an excellent handbook for anyone who’s trying to watch what they drink.

“Whether you’re counting calories, carbs or even Weight Watchers® Points®, here’s a compilation of the nutritional information that you can’t find anywhere else but in these following pages for over 2,000 worldwide beers.” (from Amazon’s product description)

Read a full review of Skilnik’s book here. You can buy this latest book — along with several of Skilnik’s previous books — in our store. Or if digital’s your thing, the author is selling a PDF version on his website.

Glamorous celebs weren’t the only ones hitting the red carpet at this weekend’s Academy Awards. New sugar-free Slender wines from Chateau Thomas Winery in Plainfield, Indiana, were selected to be included in this year’s Oscar celebrity gift baskets.

According the the winery’s website, these sugar-free wines are sweetened with Zerose, a natural sweetener which has zero calories, a zero glycemic index, no carbs, and no fats.

While we haven’t had a chance to give these wines a try yet, they sound like a good bet for low-carbers who love wine. Anyone tried these? Leave a comment with your impressions…