The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat and moderate protein diet that is practiced everywhere you turn to – internet, school, or at home. Maybe even you’re on the keto diet. If you are, then deciding what drinks are keto-friendly and what drinks are not may be a challenge for you. Following your personal taste and preference may not help either. You may end up taking in the wrong thing. But what about wine? When it comes to wine, the question is ‘can you drink wine without disrupting your ketogenic diet?’
Can you Drink Wine Following a Keto Diet?
Fortunately, you can enjoy a glass of wine while on the keto diet. One glass of wine won’t entirely kick your body out of ketosis. Wines are low in carbs. But the caution is to watch out. Not all of them are good for keto. Some are a mountain of carbohydrates and drinking them will mean leaving your keto zone. So it is important that those on keto choose keto-friendly alcohol instead.
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Yes, you can Enjoy Keto-Friendly Wines in Moderation
Dry wines like Sauvignon Blanc and red wines tend to be lowest in carbs. Limit wine on keto to 1 glass a day max. Wine lovers, there’s good news. A Keto diet and alcohol may work fine when consumed carefully and when you take wines like wine keto. If you love taking red wines, you should go for the dry and brightly colored ones. These wines are your best bet for a keto lifestyle. A grab of red wine contains about 3 to 4 grams of carbs depending on the brand. Dry white wines are also in alignment with your low-carb diet goals. Depending on the brand, the carbs in wine may range from 3-5 grams of net carbs per serving.
How Alcohol in Wine Affects Ketosis
Alcohol pauses fat burning while metabolized. But ketosis resumes after alcohol leaves your system. Space glasses of keto-friendly wine out and avoid overdoing it.
Your liver produces ketones from alcohol but it still acts as a detoxifying organ, getting rid of toxins in the body. Wines can also be toxic because of toxins like ethanol so when you drink wine, your liver resumes metabolizing the alcohol in order to remove that toxin from the body. This is why ketosis is delayed when you take wine.
Another noteworthy effect alcohol has on ketosis is that it can make you overeat. You have been starving yourself of carbs. When you consume alcohol, it will quickly be absorbed in the system and make you gorge in non-keto food. That is a huge trap to avoid.
Amount of Carbs and Calories in Wine on Keto
Dry wines have 2-4g net carbs per 5oz glass. Sweet wines have 9-10g. A liter of dry wines is reportedly said to contain only 3 grams of carbs while a liter of sweet wines contain a high amount from 20-150g of carbs. It has been said that wines with higher alcohol have higher calories. So it should not surprise you to know that some sweet wines have lower calories than dry wines.
A dry wine with an alcoholic content of 14%, for instance, may contain up to 175 calories while sweet wines may contain 103 calories per 2 oz. serving. Based on the above facts, it’s best to avoid sweetened wines and go for these ones.
A typical 5oz pour of wine equals around 120 calories. Measure your wine carefully to limit carb and calorie intake. Otherwise, you may not enter into ketosis. And even if you are already in ketosis, it may be interrupted.
Tips for Drinking Keto-Friendly Wine
Stick to dry reds and whites like Cabernet, merlot, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are a great choice for keto dieters because they contain low carbs. Dry wines are usually fermented to process the alcohol and during this, most of the sugar is transformed into alcohol. A serving of these wines will not in any way affect the amount of carbohydrates you consume.
Avoid sweet wines like Moscato, white zinfandel, and dessert wines. They contain some amount of residual sugar. This sugar increases their carb content and when you consume them, you will be defiling the law of keto. Aside from that, these wines are sweet and if you are not careful, you may end up consuming more than you should.
Alternate glasses of wine with glasses of water. Did you know that this can even help prevent hangovers? Let’s explain how. Hangovers are basically caused by dehydration. This explains why serious headaches occur when you wake up in the morning after taking alcohol. Wine makes you pee more so water and electrolytes are lost. When you drink water in between your wine intake, this problem can be minimized or even avoided.
1 glass a day max is ideal to stay in ketosis. You can enjoy a drink of wine and still have your recommended carb intake every day. If you take more than 1 glass, then you are at the risk of breaking your agreement with ketosis.
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Low-Carb Alcohol Preservatives to Wine on Keto
If avoiding wine, opt for:
Dry wines with lower alcohol. Dry wines have lower carbohydrates. Dry wines usually contain no more than 10 grams of sugar per bottle. They undergo more fermentation process and as such, they contain low sugar at the end of the fermentation. To know wines that are dry, you can look at the bottle label. Some have the ‘dry’ label on them. Another tip is to look for the ones with high alcoholic content because it is assumed that most of the sugar has been turned to alcohol.
Straight liquors like whiskey, vodka tequila. Straight liquors contain a high amount of alcohol, some have up to 40%. But it is no cause for alarm. Straight liquors contain zero carbs and are friendly for keto dieters. You can safely drink them alone or mix them with low-carb mixers to enhance their flavor.
Low-carb cocktails with approved mixers. Low-carb contains are sugar-free and contain at most 1 gram of carbs. Low-carb cocktails include vodka martini, margarita, spiked lemonade and old fashioned (with tweaks). Mixed drinks can also be taken as long as they are low-carb mixers like diet soda and sugar-free juice so that they will not knock you out of ketosis. You can eat keto food with low-carb cocktails.
Sparkling waters with fruit essence. Besides water, sparkling water is another great option that you can drink without leaving ketosis. Sparkling waters are actually carbonated using carbon dioxide gas either naturally or during manufacturing. They help in digestion and they help to reduce food cravings. Sparkling waters are generally unsweetened. So they are free from carbs and you can safely drink them and still keep your body in ketosis.
Some unsweetened sparkling waters include Aura Bora, Perrier, Hint, Yerbae, Kirkland and Phocus. However, if you want to add sweeteners, you should go for fruits, especially low-carb fruits like lemon or lime.
Keto-friendly alcoholic drinks
It has been believed for ages that alcohol consumption is detrimental to your health. However, moderation in alcohol is also good for health. Men are advised to drink not more than 2 glasses of alcohol per day while women are advised to limit their consumption to just 1 glass. But keto dieters want to be extra careful because even 1 glass may quickly add up their carb count.
Therefore, it is the best bet to go for low-carb ones that make wine keto-friendly and will still give you the desired flavor. Let’s briefly take a look at some of these keto wines that will be good for you:
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- Rum and Vodka are keto-friendly. 1.5 oz. (one shot) of these drinks contain no carbs at all.
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- A shot of Whiskey, Tequila, and Gin (1.5 oz.) is also free from carbs so they are keto-friendly.
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- A glass (5 oz.) of Red and white wine contains roughly 4 grams of carbs. So they can still be taken but in moderation.
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- The famous and popular Champagne is also a good alcoholic drink. One glass (5 oz.) of champagne gives just 1g of carbs. When buying champagne, check the wine labels with ‘brut’ as these ones will be healthy on keto.
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- Bloody Mary contains 5.7g of carbs with just one glass of wine.
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- Sparkling wines are also low in carbs and keto-friendly.
Keto friendly beer
If you want to live a healthy and strict keto diet, beer is not something you should go for. One bottle of wine beer contains 14 g of carbs. That may sound small but what if you want to take more than one bottle? Remember that the daily intake of carbs is limited to just 20g – 50g per day.
However, you can go for keto-friendly beers that are low in carbs and can rightly replace regular beer. These keto-friendly beers are brewed in such a way that carbs and calories are cut out. Some of them are even rich in protein and slow down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the body. And they can still give you a good flavor. Here’s a guide to keto-friendly beers and their carb content:
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- Miller 64 Extra Light Lager contains just 2.4 grams of carbs per serving and 64 calories. It can be obtained from shops or online stores.
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- A bottle of Michelob Ultra contains 96 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs. It can be easily gotten on shops or online stores as well.
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- Lagunitas DayTime contains just about 98 calories and 3 grams of carbs. You can buy these from online stores and safely add them to your low-carb, high-fat diet.
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- When you are thinking of a beer that has the lowest carbs and calories, then think of Budweiser Select. It has 55 calories and 1.9 grams of carbs. This beer is also keto-friendly.
How to Safely Drink Wine on Keto
The fact that you can drink keto-friendly wines doesn’t mean you should drink them in large quantities. Everything boils down to being balanced and mindful of the portions you take. Here are a few things to keep mind to safely drink wine on the keto diet:
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- Check the carb content of your drink. Shop for a wine that is low in carbs and free of sugar.
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- Watch out for the portions you drink. It is important that you drink even low-carb wines in decent amounts so that they will not throw you out of ketosis.
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- Drink plenty of water before and after you take alcohol to reduce the occurrence of hangovers.
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- Don’t overdrink. Overdrinking or binge drinking on keto may quickly add up your carb content and you may start experiencing the harmful effects of alcohol on the body.
What is residual sugar?
Residual sugar (sometimes written as RS) is also called leftover sugar. It is the amount of sugar that was left after alcoholic wines underwent fermentation. Any sugar added before the wine is bottled is also called residual sugar. The amount of residual sugar that is present in a wine is responsible for the level of sweetness of the wine.
Sometimes residual sugar is managed by adding sugar to wine to balance the sweetness level. Other times, the fermentation process is stopped by adding Sulphur or by refrigeration before it is totally complete in order not to ferment the whole sugar in a wine.
As a keto dieter, you should know the amount of residual sugar present in the wines you buy. Safely select the ones that have low residual sugar as that will mean that it is low-carb and is keto-friendly.
Keto alcohol tolerance
Following a keto diet can actually have effect on your alcohol tolerance. Before you went into the keto diet, you probably ate more carbs and your body quickly absorbed these as sugar. These carbs in your body also reduce the alcohol levels in your blood. During ketosis, however, the level of carbs and sugar in your blood drops. When you take in alcohol, the body is now alert and quickly absorbs the alcohol.
As a result, you may be craving more wine than usual. If this craving is not accompanied by self-control, you may consume more alcohol and increase your carb daily intake. This may lead to alcohol intolerance.
The Bottom Line on Drinking Wine Following a Keto Diet
You can safely drink wine in moderation on keto. Just limit carbs, calories, and alcohol. Dry red or white wines are most keto-friendly. Light beers are also keto-friendly and can be added to a low-carb diet. You can also drink low-carb cocktails and low-carb mixers like diet soda and diet tonic.
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If you are self-aware that one or two shots of alcohol will still keep you sane, then you can consume it. Persons who have a long history of alcohol abuse should be mindful of taking even one shot of wine. Keto dieters who easily fall into the trap of pressure from friends or family members may also want to consider taking wine completely out of their diet. In all, choosing the right wine will be good for you.
FAQ’s:
Q. Can you drink alcohol and still remain in ketosis?
A. Yes, you can. Ketones are still produced from alcohol so you can safely drink them on keto.
Q. How much wine can you drink to remain in ketosis?
A. For men, it is advised to limit themselves to one glass of wine daily. One drink per day for women is recommended to continue their keto lifestyle.
Q. What kind of red wine is keto?
A. Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Chianti are red wines that are good for keto as they contain low carbs and sugar.
Q. Which wine has the least sugar and carbs?
A. Sauvignon Blanc is a dry wine that has the least sugar and carbs. A glass contains just 2 grams of carbs.
Q. Can you drink alcohol on ketorolac?
A. It is not safe to take ketorolac with alcohol. It can cause serious problems like ulcers. It is best to wait for at least 24 hours after taking ketorolac before alcohol.
Q. Can you drink wine on keto and still lose weight?
A. Yes, drinking wine on keto can still help you maintain weight loss as long as it is consumed moderately.
Q. When can you drink alcohol on the keto diet?
A. You can take wines at any time while on keto, even on cheat days. Just ensure you limit yourself to a glass per day.
