Pure The Winery Zero Sugar Sparkling Ros
This is another keto and vegan-friendly wine. It is made in Piedmont, Italy, from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes. It has zero sugar and zero carbohydrates and contains only 55 calories per 100 mL serving. Its 10.5% ABV is also within the ideal amount. It is light and refreshing with hints of citrus, young red fruits, and red flowers.
Great with: Pizza, quesadillas, steak, duck, spicy food, fish, cured meat, soft cheese, lamb, charcuterie, sushi
It’s Possible To Enjoy Keto Wine While Staying Low
When you’re ditching carbs, lowering your sugar intake, and trying to live a healthier lifestyle, oftentimes one of the first things to go is drinking alcohol. But while you might be saying goodbye to donuts, chips, and sugar-filled margaritas on the keto diet, you can still enjoy a glass of wine and stay in ketosis.
The key is to keep your alcohol consumption in check and choose dry, low-carb wines that won’t send your blood sugar soaring. So go ahead and get yourself a Usual Wines mixed pack featuring red, brut bubbly, and dry rosé. You wont have to worry about kicking yourself out of ketosis, and your taste buds and macros will thank you.
Wine To Avoid On Keto
Its best to avoid high alcohol varieties like Zinfandel and shiraz and hard chards.
Though alcohol is not a carbohydrate, your body treats it like poison by prioritizing its metabolism. In doing so, alcochol halts ketosisthe breakdown of fatty acids into ketones that keto is founded on.
While authentic European wines tend to be dryer, American wines typically fall on the other side of the spectrum. Most Californian reds are too sweet to be low-carb-friendy. Dessert wines like port and sherry are also far too sweet to make the cut.
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Does Alcohol Stop Ketosis
No, alcohol itself will not kick you out of ketosis.
However, alcohol de-prioritizes utilization of fat to make ketones.
Here is the difference in metabolism on normal keto versus when you drink alcohol on keto:
- When you follow a keto diet, your body burns fat for fuel and produces ketones.
- When you drink alcohol on keto, your body sees the alcohol as poison and its first priority is to get rid of it . So, your body stops breaking down both sugar and fat in order to break down the alcohol instead. That means that any excess sugar or fat is more prone to get stored, in the form of glycogen in the liver and primarily body fat.
Low Carb / Keto Friendly Beer
Just like with wine, there are many low carb beer options to choose from. Here are a few good options to consider:
Light Beers
- Bud Select 55: 55 calories, 1.9 carbs
- MGD 64: 64 calories, 2.4 carbs
- Rolling Rock Green Light: 92 calories, 2.4 carbs
- Michelob Ultra: 95 calories, 2.6 carbs
- Bud Select: 99 calories, 3.1 carbs
- Miller Lite: 96 calories, 3.2 carbs
- Natural Light: 95 calories, 3.2 carbs
- Michelob Ultra Amber: 114 calories, 3.7 carbs
- Coors Light: 102 calories, 5 carbs
- Amstel Light: 95 calories, 5 carbs
- Bud Light: 110 calories, 6.6 carbs
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A Guide To Low Carb Alcohol: Beer Wine And Cocktails
Alcohol can be enjoyed as part of your low carb lifestyle. As with most things, only add it if itâs right for you and make wise choices if you choose to fill your cup. Although alcohol provides calories, and sometimes carbs, without satiety, there are many low carb options that can be consumed in moderation. If you make sure to choose dry wines and spirits as well as sugar-free mixers, you can still enjoy low carb and keto-friendly variations of your favorite drinks, like a rum and diet coke or a Moscow Mule made with diet ginger beer.
The Best Wine For Keto And The Worst
You dont need to know the difference between a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Pinot Grigio and a Pinot Noir, to know your way around a wine list. Weve put together a handy guide to help you understand which wine has the least carbs and sugar, and which ones to avoid on a keto diet.
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How Does Alcohol Affect Ketosis
Alcohol contains carbs, and carbs affect ketosis. If your carb intake is high, then you won’t be able to burn fat instead of carbs. Conversely, if your carb count is low, then you have a better chance of achieving ketosis.
The keto diet also changes how alcohol affects your body. Once you’re in ketosis, your body will have a much lower alcohol tolerance. Why? Because when you consume carbohydrates, it creates a bit of a buffer for your body when breaking down alcohol. But if you remove that cushion by depleting your body’s storage of carbs, alcohol strikes your system faster and stronger.
Even if you’re just having a couple of glasses of wine, your body will process any amount of alcohol much faster, and youll likely feel the effects sooner. You may even end up with a hangover. While there isn’t a ton of medical data to prove it, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that suggests wine with higher sugar content can worsen a hangover.
Why Is It Hard To Find Low Carb Wine In Australia
Unfortunately, its not as easy as looking at the nutritional label to determine the nutritional information of your chosen wine.
You see, while most food products have nutrition information on their labels or packaging, wines do not. Its because winemakers are not required by law to share nutritional information in Australia .
Even those winemakers who share nutritional figures may not be lab testing their wine, and the macronutrient split can vary from batch to batch.
However, there are still ways to gauge if a given wine is low carb or not. It all depends on what type of wine it is certain varieties tend to be much lower in carbs than others, but its not an exact method and it can be easy to make the wrong choices based on assumptions.
Tip: dedicated sellers such as The Only Keto Wines Co carry out independent lab testing to confirm the carb count of all wines they stock. If you want real certainty about the macros in your wine, this online store is a great choice and you can use the code KETOLICIOUS to get $20 off a 6 or 12 pack.
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What Makes A Wine Keto Friendly Or Not
For a wine to be considered keto-friendly, it generally needs to fit the following two conditions:
- Low in alcohol
- Low in residual sugar
Some of the types of wine that are typically keto-friendly include merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and pinot grigio.
But even these varieties can be more or less dry. Wines that arent considered dry may be too high in residual sugar to be suitable for keto.
Cutting Back On Sugar Stock Your Wine Rack With These 11 Keto
Plus, the wines to avoid!
For those of us who identify as wine snobs, it can be difficult to stay the course when a diet restricts alcohol consumption. And lets be honest, most diets and healthy lifestyles require that alcohol intake be moderate, at the very leastfair enough! I know that once I get a glass or two in me, the second plate of french fries seems eminently reasonable. But if youve ever been curious about the keto diet , youll be happy to know that it is possible to enjoy your nightly glass of vino thanks to a few delicious keto wine brands.
Have you ever tried the ketogenic diet? For the diet-averse such as myself, it is an appealing option. Its a low-carb, high-fat diet that puts the body in a state of ketosis, which burns fat for energy at a high level of efficiency. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which supplies energy to the brain. The best part? Chocolate, cheese, meat, and even some wines are good to go while on a keto diet. Phew!
But heres the thing, not all wines are keto-friendly. In general, you want to stick with wines that have low or non-existent sugar content, are low in carbohydrates, and have lower alcohol content. In general, that means a drier wine, like those from France, Italy, and Greece. If a wine is sweet, then its probably not keto. Apologies to dessert wine lovers!
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What Makes A Low Carb Wine
Not all wines are keto-friendly, as many have a high residual sugar content. Some you can enjoy with limitation, some are just no-gos when on a keto diet.
What you’re looking for are dry wines. A dry wine has less than 10 grams of sugar in every bottle. Sweeter wines have a shorter fermentation period. Since yeast consumes sugar in alcohol, this shorter fermentation period means not as much of the sugar has been consumed.
Seems easy, right? Wines usually don’t have nutrition facts printed on them. That means keeping a handy low carb wine chart around. Here’s one for red wine:
What Makes A Wine Keto Friendly
Whether or not a wine is keto friendly depends largely on the amount of residual sugar content it contains. Sugar ultimately turns into carbs and therefore ruins the keto diet.
In a perfect keto world, your wine would have no residual sugar, though its almost impossible to achieve this. Therefore, opt for a bone dry wine with just a few grams of residual sugar.
It should also have an alcohol concentration of less than 13 percent.
Unfortunately, American wines are not required to have nutrition labels. Therefore, it can be difficult to deduce what wines are keto friendly. A solution to this problem is to purchase wines from European countries that do require nutrition labels.
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Low Carb / Keto Friendly Wines
You can also still enjoy wine and beer! However, you need to learn which wines are keto friendly and how many carbs are in your wine of choice. Here are a few low carb wines to explore! Stick to dry or semi-dry wines youll develop the taste for them if you havent already. The calorie and carb counts will differ depending on brand, types of grapes/growing conditions and process of fermentation, but an average is provided:
Red Wines
- Cabernet Sauvignon : 120 calories, 3.8 carbs
- Pinot Noir: 121 calories, 3.4 carbs
- Merlot: 120 calories, 3.7 carbs
White Wines
- Pinot Grigio: 122 calories, 3.2 carbs
- Sauvignon Blanc: 122 calories, 2.7 carbs
- Chardonnay: 118 calories, 3.7 carbs
- Riesling: 118 calories, 5.5 carbs
- Champagne : 96 calories, 1.5 carbs
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- Drinks with soda or juice Including regular cola or lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, orange juice, cranberry juice, etc.
- Sweet wines Such as riesling, moscato, port, sherry, etc.
- Liqueurs These are loaded with sugar and typically made with some kind of syrup.
- Hard ciders or wine coolers These are essentially spiked fruit juice.
- Sangrias The wine in them is usually fine, but the added fruit, sugar, and/or juice is not.
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Alcohol Can Stall Weight Loss Even If You Stay In Ketosis
Let me explain how a few low carb vodka drinks can stall weight loss. In a nutshell, your body will prioritize getting rid of the alcohol before it burns any sugar or fat . This means both sugar and fat are more likely to get stored as body fat when you drink alcohol. For more detail, see the Does Alcohol Stop Ketosis? section above.
Keto Wine: The Takeaway
A keto diet centers on the types of rich fatty foods that wine has always been enjoyed alongside.
Fortunately, when consumed in moderation, there are many keto wines that are low alcohol and low carbs.
Follow our list of keto-friendly varieties while focusing on wines labeled brut, extra brut and that are described as dry.
Well leave you with a sign off by one of historys most famous wine enthusiasts:
Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes, to be changed into wine a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.
Wine enthusiast Benjamin Franklin
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Keto Friendly Wine Pairing Appetizers
A lot of appetizers that pair with wines are also going to break the keto diet. Therefore, here are a few replacement ideas. Consider trading:
- Crackers for almonds
- High carb crackers with these low carb keto crackers
- Fried appetizers for baked appetizers
- Pigs in a blanket for grass fed sausage
- Processed meat for grass fed meat
List Of Best White Wines For Keto
1. Pinot Blanc
Since it has the least amount of carbohydrates and sugar, Pinot Blanc is probably the best dry keto wine.
With only 2.9 grams of carbohydrates per glass, Pinot Blanc is the only keto wine that can stay below 3 grams .
However, there is not much difference between the carbohydrate levels of the best keto-friendly white wines.
Therefore, we only range between 2.9 and 3.8 grams of carbohydrates, although there can, of course, be minor differences between producers.
2. Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon is mainly known for its freshness. However, due to the worldwide cultivation, there are significant differences in the taste of Sauvignon Blanc.
While in Austria and Germany, the note of freshly cut grass is characteristic, in New Zealand, for example, the grape variety can have nuances of coconut or pineapple.
In a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, you will find only 3 grams of carbohydrates on average .
3. Pinot Grigio
After Sauvignon Blanc, Burgundy varieties once again dominate the list of the best keto wines.
The next grape variety is known as Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, or in German, Grauburgunder. A glass of Pinot Gris holds just over 3 grams of carbohydrates .
Hence, Sauvignon Blanc just slightly beats Pinot Grigio among low-carb wines.
4. Chardonnay
In contrast to the tangier Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay is a fuller-bodied grape variety. Nevertheless, both wines are considered dry.
5. Riesling
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Villa Conchi Extra Brut Imperial Cava
This is a light-bodied, extra dry style sparkling wine made in Catalonia, Spain, from a blend of Xarel, Macabeo, Parellada, and Chardonnay grape varieties. This unique blend gives the wine an intense, complex flavour that offers a warm, pleasant sensation in the palate and a smooth aftertaste. Because it is Extra Brut, it is keto-friendly, with less than 1.5 g per 150 mL serving and an ABV of 11.5%.
Great with: Seafood, salads with fruits or nuts, traditional Spanish tapas, cheddar cheese, chicken or any white meat, oysters, ham, croquettes, tempura, canapes
What Else Should I Keep In Mind
If youre wine-ing on a diet, make sure you look at calories, sugar, carbs etc. per serving. Its a little sneaky, but many alcohol brands report calories, carbs, and sugar per serving, and have different definitions of what a serving is. Check out a companys tech sheets or product pages for this information.
And what if you cant find calories, carbs, and residual sugar listed on their site? Just ask. If you reach out to a wine or spirit company and they dont or cant tell you the nutritional information of their product, that’s what we might call: a flag.
While were on the subject, if a wine company doesnt tell you the name of the winemaker or where the wine is grown, thats not a great sign either. Its likely not from a reputable craft producer or theyd be proud to tell you their story. In summary, sip wine with soul.
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Can You Have Alcohol On Keto
While its obvious that sweet mixed drinks and beer are full of sugar and carbs that can immediately bring you out of ketosis, straight liquor and dry wine can also cause issues for some people.
When talking about drinking on the keto diet, you have to consider the processes that go into your body metabolizing alcohol, and how that can interfere with your body being in ketosis.
Your health and body are unique to you, so its important to understand that even if you drink a low-carb alcoholic drink, your reaction may not be the same as the person across from you. Listen to your body, and act accordingly.
Take a drink like a vodka soda: It has very few calories and even fewer grams of sugar. However, even though it uses a liquor with no carbs, its not the calories in this simple drink that can cause a problem its how the body processes the liquor in the first place.
In Moderation Wine Is Fine
If you choose the right wine, 1-2 glasses wont throw you out of ketosis. Moreover, moderate alcohol consumption can even be beneficial to your health, which is especially the case with red wine.
Therefore, the ideal keto wine has the following characteristics:
- Low residual sugar content
- No added sugar
- No chemical additives
- Lass than 15% alcohol
To enjoy wine on the keto diet without worry, ask a professional wine merchant for dry varieties.
This list of the best low-carb grape varieties will help you choose wherever you shop. With traditional vinification, they are always keto-friendly.
In addition, high-quality sparkling wines exist with exceptionally low residual sugar. Therefore, look for the brut designation when choosing.
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