Can you still drink alcohol and be on keto? Yep. Do you have to be careful? Yep! So, before we get into the nitty gritty of what us keto people drink on a night out, we have to go over a few tips and cautions before getting to the top 10 keto alcoholic drinks.
The Top 10 Keto Alcoholic Drinks Warning
Your body on keto is a processing expert. It’s a mean, lean, fat burning machine. So, when you fill up on alcohol, your body isn’t sure what to do with it. I mean, it really has no purpose. It’s not used for energy or building muscle. It’s not one of the three macronutrients (carbs, protein or fat) so your body just pushes it through. This means two things.
First of all, you are going to feel the effects of the drink a lot more than you did before. Trust me. Take it slow and steady. Secondly, you are going to feel it on the back end even more with a wicked hangover. Again, trust me. Try to have a glass of water in between each drink to lessen the nasty effects of alcohol.
Zero Carbs Doesn’t Mean Zero Carbs in The Long Run
It’s also important to remember that even though you can find 0 carb or low carb drinks, they all still have calories attached to them. You can pretty much count on taking in about 100 calories a drink, so keep that in mind as you’re on your 5th or 6th one. Now you may say, can’t I just have a night out and not worry about my calories? Sure you can. But the next morning, don’t go crying to the scale because you didn’t heed the warnings.
Okay, enough of my lecturing. Let’s get to the Top 10 Drinks to have on keto.
10. Red wine – Dry red wine can be had on keto. In a 5 oz. glass, you will take in about 4 grams of carbs. It also has about 120 calories in that glass.
9. White wine – Dry white wine is about the same as the red wine for carbs. It also has about 120-130 calories in a glass.
Champagne is One of The Top 10 Keto Alcoholic Drinks
8. Champagne – I’m not talking the $5 bottle that has so much sugar in it, you can guzzle it. Real champagne has about 4 grams of carbs in a 5 oz. glass and will also have about 120 calories in it.
7. Light beer – So, the rule of thumb is that the darker the beer, the more carbs there are in it. And beware, not all light beer is created equal. If you look at the Budweiser brand, Bud Select 55 has 2 grams of carbs in a bottle. Bud Select has 3 grams of carbs per bottle. Bud Light has 7 grams of carbs in a bottle. Also, the calories in a bottle of light beer can range from 55 to 120. Bill enjoys Michelob or Miller Lite at 3 carbs per can.
The motherly Koopa is apparently keeping track of our consumption!
6. Whiskey – Whiskey has no carbs in it. If you can drink it straight up or on the rocks, you can get by with just taking in calories (about 100 calories per drink). You are also a better person than I am! My dad used to mix whiskey with ginger ale. You could certainly mix it with a diet soda, such as Sprite or 7-Up.
5. Gin – Gin also has zero carbs. It tends to be a little less harsh to drink without a mix. Usually, people mix gin with tonic water, but this can have sugar in it. Make sure it is sugar-free tonic water. You can also mix it with soda water or seltzer. Again, this drink won’t add carbs but it does have calories. I also saw a suggestion of mixing gin with earl grey tea. That sounds interesting!
Tequila is Also One of The Top 10 Keto Alcoholic Drinks
4. Tequila – Take a shot with salt and a wedge of lime without any carbs to speak of. You can be the life of the party for only about 100 calories per shot!
3. Rum – Be sure to get the rum without any added sugar. Sometimes the flavoured rum can have carbs. The traditional mix for rum is a soda like Pepsi or Coke. Get the diet soda and you can drink this carb-free. Again, there are about 100 calories per shot of rum so take that into account.
2. Vodka – This one can be tricky because a lot of the traditional mixes are sugary juices. You can add just water with a flavoured water enhancer, such as Crystal Light or Mio. My favourite is Sparkling Ice flavoured water. Orange Mango flavour is my choice.
Our Number One Choice
1. White Claw – White Claw Hard Seltzer is all the rage with keto people. Making it number on our list of keto alcoholic drinks. It’s so nice to be able to go to a bar and order this without a lot of discussion or substitutions. And, it tastes good too. Each can has 2 grams of net carbs and 100 calories. They come in different flavours. So far, I’ve tried the Black Cherry and the Blackberry and liked them both.
So that’s the list. It’s been my pleasure researching this for you! Enjoy the occasional drink (or two), be safe and make good choices, my keto peeps!
Wendy
