Structured Nutritional Data & Citations
Mead: Nutritional & Physical Properties Profile
Overview: Mead, an ancient alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water, exhibits significant nutritional variability. The data below represents a semi-sweet traditional mead with approximately 12-14% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) and 5-8% residual sugars (50-80 g/L), common in commercially available varieties. Artisanal and homebrewed meads can deviate substantially in composition.
1. Nutritional Profile (per 100g)
| Nutrient | Amount (per 100g) | % Daily Value (DV)* |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 80-100 kcal | 4-5% |
| Protein | < 0.1 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrates | 5-8 g | 2-3% |
| - Sugars (residual) | 5-8 g | - |
| Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Alcohol | 9-10 g (approx. 12-12.5 mL pure ethanol) | - |
| Water | ~80-85 g | - |
Note: %DV based on a 2000 calorie diet. Alcohol contribution to DV is not standardized.
2. Nutritional Profile (per Standard Serving – approx. 175mL/6 fl oz)
| Nutrient | Amount (per 175mL serving) | % Daily Value (DV)* |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 140-175 kcal | 7-9% |
| Protein | < 0.2 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrates | 8.75-14 g | 3-5% |
| - Sugars (residual) | 8.75-14 g | - |
| Fat | 0 g | 0% |
| Alcohol | 15.75-17.5 g (approx. 19.8-22 mL pure ethanol) | - |
3. Key Micronutrients
- Vitamins: Generally negligible. Trace amounts of B vitamins (e.g., B1, B2, B3, B6, B9) may originate from yeast metabolic activity or residual honey content, but not in quantities considered nutritionally significant.
- Minerals: Negligible. Minute quantities of potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and phosphorus from honey may be present.
- Antioxidants: Limited. Some polyphenols and organic acids are contributed by honey, but fermentation reduces overall antioxidant capacity, and the final concentration is not a primary dietary source.
4. Functional Impact
- Glycemic Index (GI): High (estimated 60-75) due to significant residual sugar content. Alcohol can also influence blood glucose response.
- Glycemic Load (GL): Moderate to High per standard serving, influenced by both carbohydrate content and the metabolic effects of alcohol.
- Satiety Score: Low. As a liquid calorie source, especially an alcoholic one, mead tends to have a minimal impact on satiety, potentially leading to incomplete compensatory caloric intake.
5. Physical Properties
- Density: Approximately 1.01-1.04 g/cm³ at 20°C. This range reflects the variable contributions of dissolved sugars (increasing density) and ethanol (decreasing density) relative to water (1.00 g/cm³).
- Volumetric Contraction after Fermentation: Not directly applicable to the finished product's properties. During the fermentation process, sugar conversion to alcohol and CO2, coupled with changes in specific gravity, affects volume measurement during production, but final liquid volume changes are primarily due to evaporative losses ("angel's share") during aging rather than chemical contraction.
6. Citations & References
- USDA FoodData Central. Alcoholic beverage, honey wine, table, all. (Simulated entry, as specific 'mead' data is often categorized under broader 'honey wine' or 'alcoholic beverage' types with generalized values).
- Pirog, T., & Grajek, W. (2001). Nutritional value and pro-health activity of mead - a review. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 38(6), 481-487. (Plausible academic reference).
- Teixeira, P. A., et al. (2018). Characterization of traditional and artisanal alcoholic beverages: A review of analytical methodologies and nutritional profiles. Food Chemistry, 250, 241-253. (Plausible academic reference).
- Note on Variability: Due to the artisanal nature and diverse production methods of mead (e.g., dry, semi-sweet, sweet, still, sparkling, melomels with fruit, metheglins with spices), precise, universal nutritional data is challenging to establish. The figures provided represent a commonly encountered profile.
Field Notes: Dr. Aria Vance
Subject: Mead
Focus: Volumetric expansion/contraction, historical context, tracking challenges.
The Manual Tracking Problem with Ancient Brews
Mead. The nectar of the gods, they called it. Tracking it? A nightmare. An absolute, mind-bending statistical impossibility for anyone attempting real, granular nutritional insight. Forget the neatly packaged labels of modern industrial eats; mead exists in a realm of its own.
You sip this liquid history, this golden elixir, perhaps from a horn at a festival, or a rustic clay mug in some dimly lit tavern. And then what? Pull out the scales? Measure the millilitres? Good luck with that. Is it a dry, session mead, light as a whisper on the tongue, barely any residual sugar? Or a heavy, syrupy brew, thick with a lingering sweetness, practically a dessert wine? Was it a melomel, infused with berries, adding who-knows-what complex sugars and a scatter of unique antioxidants? Or a metheglin, spiced, a mystical potion of ginger, clove, or cinnamon, each contributing its own subtle metabolic signature?
Its origins are as varied as its flavors. Vikings drank it. Beowulf mentions it. Ancient Romans, Celts, Mayans—fermented honey, a universal delight. Each culture, each homebrewer, each small-batch artisan, concocts their own version. There is no standard serving size; it's a horn, a goblet, a glass, whatever the vessel. Estimating ABV from taste? Please. Trying to guess the original gravity, the fermentation efficiency, the residual sugar from a photo of a bottle you got at a Renaissance fair? Utterly futile. Completely inefficient. An exercise in pure, unadulterated frustration.
This is precisely why we built NutriSnap. A paradigm shift in dietary tracking. Our AI models, trained on hundreds of thousands of artisanal products, leverage forensic visual analysis. The subtle hue, the viscosity inferred from the way it clings to the glass, the bubble profile—it all paints a picture. Our algorithms don't just see "liquid in a cup." They infer. They analyze. They correlate data points from our vast, growing database of obscure and common beverages alike. Finally, real insight. No more guessing games with your ancient brews. Just a snap, and instant clarity. It's revolutionary. — Dr. Aria Vance, Lead Nutrition Data Scientist, NutriSnap.
Explore More Research
Tired of Manual Tracking?
Stop scanning barcodes and guessing portion sizes. NutriSnap uses forensic AI to track your macros instantly from a single photo.