Knowing how alcoholic beverages can affect individuals who are on a keto diet plan is important. The consumption of liquor may actually deepen your body’s ketosis level. However, it may negatively affect your main goal because it slows down weight loss. Drinking alcohol will affect liver metabolism.
Among the numerous health improvement, diet and weight loss plans out there, many people are starting to like the effectiveness and benefits of being on a ketogenic diet. With careful planning, things will definitely work in your favor by sustaining your body’s ketosis through proper daily carbohydrate allotment. To support all these things, here’s a list of keto alcoholic beverages that you need to know to create a highly successful diet plan.
Keto Alcoholic Beverages
If your on a keto diet, it is best to look and go for low-carb alcohol varieties such as light beer and wine. For better results, it is best to choose pure alcohol forms like vodka, rum, tequila, gin and whiskey.
1. Dry Martini
Comprised of 1 part vodka, Kina Lillet and three parts Gordon’s gin, a dry martini is one of the highly recommended drinks for people on a keto diet because it has zero grams of carbs.
2. Whiskey
Made from fermented grains, this zero carb drink is called by many names and styles such as Rye, Bourbon, Canadian, Irish and Scotch. It is a very good drink for those on a keto diet.
3. Skinny Bitch
Made of just lime, soda water and vodka, this type of drink comes with zero carbs. It is the preferred alcoholic drink of people on a keto diet because it is light, refreshing and sparkling.
4. White or red wine
A glass of any of these dry wines can give you around 2 grams of carb. It is one of the best beverages to have when on a keto diet.
5. Dry sparkling wine or champagne
A single glass of this low carb drink contains only about a gram of carb. Popular versions include inexpensive dry sparkling wines such as Prosecco, Cava and Brut.
Low Carbohydrate Mixers
When attending parties, it is very important to be aware of what you are drinking. To be sure, always avoid the usual mixers such as energy drinks, sweeteners, soda and juice. Instead of these high-calorie ingredients, go for powdered flavor packets, seltzer, sugarless tonic water, diet soda and other low-carbohydrate mixers. These keto-friendly ingredients can improve the taste of your beverages while keeping your intake of carbohydrates low.
What Not to Drink When on a Keto Diet Plan
A serving of an alcoholic beverage may contain a lot of carbs, ranging from 30 grams or more. Syrups, sweeteners, soda, juice and other high carbohydrate sugary components are commonly used to create mixed drinks and cocktails. Furthermore, a single can of regular beer may contain more than 12 grams of carbs because it is made from starch. When on a keto diet, avoid regular beer, cosmopolitan, pina colada, sangria, whiskey sour, Bloody Mary, margarita and the like.
The Importance of Drinking in Moderation
Though we may have a list of keto alcoholic beverages on our hand, it does not mean that we can binge on these keto-friendly drinks. When on a keto diet, always remember to drink in moderation. Just like anything else, too much of a good thing can still result in something bad. Empty calories may exist even on low carbohydrate alcoholic beverages. These calories have minimal to zero nutrients such as vitamins, fiber and protein.
Over time, drinking too much alcohol can lead to a higher risk of developing nutritional deficiencies. Not only that, this kind of bad habit can also result in gradual weight increase. Based on studies, moderate or light drinking is less associated with a higher weight gain risk than the consumption of two or more alcoholic drinks daily.
Too much drinking may lead to more body fat and suppress the body’s capacity to burn fat. It may also add extra calories to your body. Furthermore, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages may lead to cancer, liver conditions, heart disease, diabetes and other serious health risks.
If there is really no way to stop yourself from drinking alcohol, it is best for men to limit their drinks to just two per day and for women to restrict their drinks to just one.
Beer vs. Wine: How These Beverages Can Affect People Who Are on a Keto Diet
Drinking wine is never a problem for individuals especially if it is just a part of a moderate low carbohydrate diet. Dry wines are perfect for individuals who are on a keto diet because each glass just contain 0.5 grams of sugar or less. They may have glycerol and other carbs but they have only a small impact on your body’s insulin and blood sugar levels.
On the other hand, drinking beer can be a problem for individuals who are on a keto diet. Aptly linked to big bellies, the consumption of beer may lead you to intake lots of quickly digestible carbs. Not only is beer disastrous for weight control, but it can also destroy your keto diet plan.
The Most Acceptable Keto Alcoholic Beverages of Them All
There are countless varieties of alcoholic beverages available today. The safest to enjoy are clear liquors with approximately 40% alcohol content. When you are on a keto diet, be sure to avoid any beverage that is sweet to the taste.
To sum it up, the most acceptable alcoholic beverages to drink when on a keto plan are: Cognac, Brandy, Scotch, Rum, Whiskey, Gin, Tequila and Vodka.
List of Keto-Friendly Light Beers to Consider
- Bud Light = 6.6 carbs
- Amstel Light = 5 carbs
- Coors Light = 5 carbs
- Michelob Ultra Amber = 3.7 carbs
- Natural Light = 3.2 carbs
- Miller Lite = 3.2 carbs
- Bud Select = 3.1 carbs
- Michelob Ultra = 2.6 carbs
- Rolling Rock Green Light = 2.4 carbs
- MGD 64 = 2.4 carbs
- Bud Select 55 = 1.9 carbs
