I don’t know about you, but when I was first learning about the keto diet, one of my earliest thoughts was “Oh no, what about beer? What about wine? Someone please tell me is at least vodka allowed?!”
With a diet so limiting on intake of carbs and sugars, it seems like alcohol would probably have to be one of the first things to go. However, there are healthy ways, in moderation, to still enjoy a relaxing drink every now and then without pulling your body entirely out of ketosis.
Yes, You Can Drink Alcohol on the Keto Diet
It’s important to note though that alcohol is still slightly disruptive to the keto process. While carbs disrupt, and pull your body out of the state of ketosis, alcohol merely pauses the process, making it much easier to recover, and get your liver back to burning up fat for energy in hardly anytime at all.
A plus side of this, is that while in ketosis, you’ll notice that alcohol will actually affect you much stronger than before, which means you won’t even need that much in the first place to get that desired, relaxed affect.
Because I’m a science nerd at heart, I decided to do some research to better understand exactly what happens when alcohol is consumed during a keto diet. Let’s dive a little deeper into how alcohol is processed in the body during ketosis, and what types of alcohols (and what limits they require) you can have while maintaining your healthy, low-carb diet.
The Science Behind Alcohol and Ketosis
When you consume alcohol, your body uses specific enzymes to convert it into specific types of toxins. This process takes place so that it’s easier for the liver to attempt to metabolize the alcohol and get it out of your system. Because of the nature of these toxins, your liver will prioritize metabolizing them over your bodies natural ketones, essentially putting a pause to the process of ketosis.
This disruption is only temporary, so unlike eating too many carbs, alcohol won’t necessarily pull your body out of a state of ketosis.
Interestingly enough, because of this prioritization of breakdown in the liver, you’ll also likely notice that less becomes more when it comes to alcohol. Your tolerance for alcohol drops significantly while in a state of ketosis because your diet doesn’t have as many carbohydrates to help your body continually absorb it, making you drunker quicker.
When you eat or drink carbohydrates, you’re actually restoring your liver’s glycogen levels, which puts a much larger strain on your liver when it comes to fat burning. So ultimately the bottom line with any food or beverage, including alcohol, depends on their respective counts of carbohydrates. As long as you’re consuming low-carb drinks, your body can relatively easily get back into prioritizing ketone metabolization, and get right back into burning fat quickly.
Which Alcoholic Drinks Have Too Many Carbs?
So what alcoholic drinks are high in carbohydrates? Unfortunately, fruity wines and heavy beers will probably not comply at all with the carbohydrate to fat and protein ratio you’ll need in order to maintain a state of ketosis, but there are alcoholic beverages you can still enjoy from time to time.
The types of drinks to mainly watch out for include:
- Beer
Beer is a tough one to really work around when in comes to carbohydrates, especially those IPAs, stouts, and generally thicker craft beers. The average beer has 13 carbs, which is just going to set you up for disaster, especially if you typically enjoy more than one drink at a time.
There are some light beers that can be a little more efficient with your carb intake. For example, Miller 64 only has 2.4 net carbs, and Michelob Ultra only has a whopping 0.2g of carbs! So while beer is not inherently smart for those on the ketogenic diet, there are certain types of beers you can get away with every once in a while — just always remember to keep them in moderation.
- Wine
A standard glass of wine ranges from 4-5 grams of carbs at the 5oz serving, which is typically a smaller type of serving for avid wine drinkers like myself. However, that number is reserved for unsweetened and unflavored dry wines. When it comes to champagnes and fruity wines like Zinfandels and Rosés, the carb counts start to creep up to the 5-15 carb range, with the same smaller servings.
- Cocktails
Cocktails are almost unfortunately always a bad idea when it comes to maintaining a state of ketosis. There are sugar free options like soda water or fruit infused water, but any cocktails like margaritas and liquor and soda will take you straight out of ketosis.
Fortunately, all liquors virtually contain zero grams of carbs in total, so if you can get accustomed to shots or taking spirits on the rocks, you’ll be in good shape to survive the bar scene and maintain your keto diet.
Don’t Forget About Calories
While it’s good that you’ll be able to have some fun while sticking with your low carb diet, ultimately weight loss depends on calories in vs calories out — and alcohol is VERY calorie dense. A typical beer has 154 calories, a typical unsweetened, dry wine has 123 calories, and a shot of liquor like vodka has around 96 calories. So ultimately, you’ll want to shy away from serious binge drinking (not that excessive drinking would work on any other diet, let alone keto), and it’s best to remember the golden rule: everything in moderation.
Be Mindful of Cravings Too
Lastly, on top of having to keep track of those carbs and calories when drinking, you’ll want to be careful of cravings that can come up while drinking. Most people go out drinking at night, where food options are very limited, and usually more unhealthy. Additionally, the more intoxicated you become, the more impaired your judgment will be. With that combination, it may be harder to fight urges for carby foods that don’t always fit the ketogenic diet.
A good method that I’ve found is to bring some quick low carb snacks with me if I plan on having a drink or two with some friends, or even having a well balanced meal before going out to keep me from overindulging.
Last but not least, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Water will immensely help your liver and kidneys out while trying to digest and process alcohol, and will also help keep your body full so you won’t be as likely to keep drinking or even stray from your diet.
With these tips, I’m confident you’ll be able to make the most of your ketogenic diet, and not have to worry if you’re every asked to a night out, a big social event, or even if you could really use a drink to take the edge off every once in a while.