What Alcohol Is Keto Friendly: Best Keto Approved Alcoholic Drinks

Are you allowed alcohol on the keto diet? Yes, you are but you need to do it right! Learn what alcohol is keto-friendly and the best keto-approved alcoholic drinks.

Many alcoholic beverages are loaded with carbs. They can contain as much as over 30 grams of carbs in a single serving!

Are you allowed any alcohol on the keto diet then? The answer is YES (unless you are following a keto diet to treat a medical condition, such as diabetes or epilepsy), but there are a few things you need to consider.

What Alcohol Is Keto Friendly

Pure forms of alcohol like whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, and vodka contain zero carbs.

Unsweetened/unflavored champagne, dry red wine, and dry white wine contain the lowest amount of carbs in the wine family, they range in the 4-5g net carbs per glass. Make sure to check the carb content though as some dry wines contain over 8g of carbs per glass!

Most beers are very high in carbs so they should be avoided. However, some light beers may contain a lower amount of carbs, e.g. a pale lager contains an average of 5.8g of carbs per can. Check the carb content and choose a light beer that is low in carbs to stay within your daily limits.

Cocktails are usually packed with high-carb, sugary ingredients like juice, syrups, or soda. But fear not all the cocktail lovers as this post contains over 20 delicious and keto-friendly cocktail recipes!

Things To Consider When Drinking Keto Approved Alcohol

While drinking alcohol may not knock you out of ketosis, it will slow it down. This is because your body treats alcohol like a toxin and your liver will prioritize processing it over fats. This, in turn, will impact the rate of your ketosis.

In other words, your body will use energy from alcohol before using ketones from body fat and this will slow down your weight loss process. You should also remember that after all, alcohol still counts as empty calories.

Another thing to consider is that not eating carbs will affect your alcohol tolerance, i.e. you will become intoxicated more quickly and suffer from worse hangovers. This is because carbohydrates are responsible for reducing the effects of alcohol so when you don’t eat them, alcohol is being processed in your body much faster.

As both the keto diet and alcohol are natural diuretics, mixing them together increases your risk of dehydration. You should, therefore, drink plenty of water alongside alcohol and before going to bed.

Many people also experience heightened levels of hunger when drinking. This may affect your ability to resist non-keto temptations or just over-consuming in general.

With this said, I think the balance is key, and having a glass or two keto-approved alcoholic drink once in a while is absolutely fine. It’s good to have this option as opposed to being forced to choose between feeling miserable and avoiding social gatherings or falling off the keto wagon.

Now let’s dive into the best keto-approved alcoholic drinks – I have found over 20 delicious keto-friendly cocktail recipes for you below!