So, you have some questions about the Ketogenic Diet and drinking alcohol? Let me guess – you decided to “go keto” and then you heard you can’t have alcohol, right? Did it go a little something like that? Let me reassure you that this is not entirely accurate!
First, unless you are 21, no point in continuing reading this because you shouldn’t be drinking anyway!
Now that we know we are all of drinking age, let’s keep going and answer some common questions about keto and alcohol!
Question #1 Can I have alcohol while eating Ketogenic?
Yes. That comes with a caveat though. Your liver is what metabolized fat to produce ketones. If you don’t know what Ketones are, you should pick up a copy of my new eBook The Ketogenic Diet Workbook – Getting Started. It has everything you need!
Anyway, your liver metabolizes fat to produce ketones. Your liver ALSO metabolizes alcohol. Did you know that alcohol is the 4th macronutrient? It is not an essential one, though, and your body views it as toxic. Sorry to burst your bubble. Given that alcohol is toxic, your liver jumps to the task to metabolize it and get it out of your system.
Therefore, it puts a temporary hold on burning fat in order to metabolize the alcohol. This can have an effect on your weight loss and fat burning efforts if you drink a lot.
Additionally, most alcohol has carbs so you need to consider that we well.
On the days that I’m going to have wine, I make sure it fits into my allotted macros for the day. I might decrease the carbs I eat during the day knowing I will be consuming some in the evening.
Question #2 Can I have any alcohol?
Well, that is up to you, but each alcohol has a different carb content. Regular beer and sweet wines are pretty much off the table. Regular wines are (on average) around 3-5 carbs per glass. Hard/Clear alcohols do not contain ANY carbs. Bear in mind, though, that if you mix it with a coke or something sweet that the mixers normally have carbs. Don’t neglect that piece
I have a nice alcohol guide that you can get HERE. This guide lists out the carb content of most common alcohols and is really quite handy! If you sign up to my email list (super cool stuff goes on there) then I give out my free resource vault password as a thank you! You’ll get meal guides and more! Sign up HERE and get the resource vault link and password within minutes!
Question #3 Will Alcohol throw me out of ketosis?
That depends. It could, especially if the carb content is too high. But it could interfere with your fat loss efforts as we already talked about!
Conclusion
Use your discretion and drink responsibly. Understand that alcohol is a toxin (sigh.. I sure love wine) and that is never good. If you have lofty weight loss goal, then I would put the alcohol back on the shelf for a while. Even if you don’t, enjoying a drink on occasion is not the end of the world!
Trina Krug is a Holistic Nutritionist, Integrative Health Coach and host of the Carbless Conversations Podcast. With a Master’s Degree in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, her single mission in life is to facilitate self-healing in herself and those around her through awareness, lifestyle shifts and low-carb eating. As a current Doctor of Science student, she continues her studies in functional nutrition.
