The Health Risks & Potential Benefits Of Alcohol
Alcohol itself is generally not considered to be a healthful substance.
Excessive intake can reduce fat burning , is linked with increased abdominal fat , and can potentially contribute to numerous long-term health risks .
That being said, you might have heard of the potential benefits of the occasional drink. Some studies even suggest an inverse relationship between light to moderate drinking and heart attack risk and death from all cardiovascular causes in certain populations .
This may seem confusing at first, but as the Harvard School of Public Health note:
The risks exceed benefits until middle age, when cardiovascular disease begins to account for an increasingly large share of the burden of disease and death.
A few more important takeaways from the same source:
- If you dont drink, there is no need to start. You can get similar heart-healthy outcomes with exercise and dietary choices, without the added risks posed by alcohol.
- For males with no history of alcoholism but a moderate to high risk for heart disease, one daily alcoholic beverage may reduce that risk, particularly if you have low HDL.
- Females with no history of alcoholism but a moderate to high risk for heart disease must balance the potential benefits of light drinking against the small increase in breast cancer risk.
- If you already drink alcohol, do not consume more than 2 drinks a day for males or 1 drink a day for females, and ensure you consume at least 400 micrograms of folate a day.
Will Alcohol Knock You Out Of Ketosis
While Im in ketosis one drink will usually do me just fine. Im the type of girl who typically enjoys a few cocktails when Im out for a good time. A keto lifestyle is completely different. You will feel the effects of alcohol a lot sooner. This is due to a change in metabolism and depleted glycogen.
In general, while on a healthy lifestyle alcohol can inhibit results if you are trying to lose weight. When you drink alcohol your liver will use the products of the metabolized alcohol instead of fat. Which means instead of burning fat, your body is working to get the alcohol out of your body.
Occasional drinks should not harm results. If you drink often during the week or every weekend, you could be slowing your fat-burning process down. Read more about If Alcohol Will Knock You Out of Ketosis here.
Can Acv Be Used During A Keto Diet
Definitely yes! The second you read that, your next queries would most certainly be Is Apple cider keto-friendly? or How many carbs in apple cider vinegar?, because the whole emphasis of a keto diet is to avoid too many carbs.
Apple cider vinegar has a negligible carb content of 0.193 g in one tbsp which makes it ideal for use during a keto diet. Plus you get the benefit of several minerals and phytochemicals which makes it ideal and extremely keto-friendly. ,
Controlling the carb level is crucial in a keto diet to support maximum ketosis or fat burning for energy. Being extremely negligible in carbs, apple cider vinegar can aid ketosis and not kick you out of it.
ACV with its content of acetic acid has also been known to have positive effects on blood sugar and lipid levels. This makes it a splendid addition to the keto diet to offer many health benefits.
Another main reason to combine ACV in a keto diet is that both aid in weight loss. Animal studies on acetic acid have suggested that it can suppress fat accumulation and liver lipids by upregulating genes.
Apple cider vinegar is more potent when it has the mother, raw and unfiltered. This refers to the cloudy layer of acetic acid bacteria and yeast which forms a layer in ACV and contains more phytochemicals for efficacy.
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Drink Lots Of Water And Electrolytes
Alcohol is dehydrating, and even more so when youre in ketosis without the extra glycogen, your body isnt storying as much water.
This means you should be extra vigilant with both your water and electrolytes before and after drinking. Theres a good reason hangovers on keto are so notorious!
And if you need something to discourage you from going overboard on the drinks, remember: getting kicked out of ketosis can sometimes feel like having a hangover. Combine that with an actual hangover and youve got a recipe for disaster.
Why Dryness Matters For Keto Wine
A good keto wine should contain very little residual sugar. In the wine-making process, yeast consumes the grape sugar to produce alcohol. That process might be stopped early to create wines with a bit of residual sugar left over. A lot of wines have some residual sugar because it complements and blends into the taste well. A very dry wine is one where that process is allowed to continue, and so it has very little residual sugar.
Be aware that dry is also used to describe a taste quality not all wines that are described as dry cut this sugar down that much. They can still have as much as 30 grams of residual sugar per liter.
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Bottom Line: Dry Wine In Moderation
I hope that by now you know whether drinking wine on a keto diet will be a good idea for you. As you can see, alcohol isnt absolutely forbidden on a ketogenic diet and it can even be helpful if you know how to consume it and consume only the right types. The key is to avoid alcohol that has added carbs in it.
Dry wine is totally OK while sweet and semi-sweet types of wine arent very keto friendly.
The bottom line is to choose the type that has the smallest amount of carbs, drink it in moderation and dont combine it with eating huge meals . Its best to entirely separate drinking time from eating time.
If weight loss is your main goal, you should be especially careful with drinking alcohol and combining it with foods. However, if you closely watch your progress, get to know you body and make adjustments, you are going to be OK drinking wine on a keto diet. I am!
If you find this mini guide helpful and useful, please share it with your friends on social media. My goal is to reach as many people as possible to help them make wise dietary choices and transform their lives. Thanks!
How Much Sugar Is In Wine
The amount of sugar in wine varies not only based on the type of wine it is but also on who’s making it. Winemakers can alter the sweetness of wine in a variety of ways. They could halt the fermentation process so that more residual sugars are left in the finished product. They could also add sugars not to mention a host of other undisclosed additives that’ll make you think twice before pouring yourself a glass. Here are some examples of the sugar content in popular types of wine:
- Dry red wines: Favorites such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon generally contain between 3-4 grams of sugar per glass.
- Dry white wines: Popular choices like Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc typically range from 2.5-3.5 grams of sugar per serving.
- Brut wines and Champagne: Whether sparkling or still, most brut has fewer than 3 grams of sugar per serving. Usual Wines sparkling brut has 0 grams of sugar.
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What Can I Do If I Still Want To Drink Wine During Keto Diet
As we mentioned, drinking a glass of wine here and there is not going to take you out of ketosis, or set you back too much in your diet goals. The important thing though is that you want to be aware of what youre drinking, how much youre drinking, and how that will affect your overall goals of staying low carb, high fat.
They do make low carb and low sugar wines, you will just have to do some research to find a company or brand that makes these types of wines. Often times wine labels will not have that sort of information on them, but if youre searching out specific keto friendly wines, you should have no problem finding a brand that you can pick up at your local grocery store that others have tested. The key to everything is moderation, so as along as you can find that comfortable middle ground, and not go overboard with the wine, you should be able to enjoy a glass of wine during the week without worrying about it affecting your keto diet.
What Is The Keto Diet And How Does Balsamic Vinegar Factor In
A ketogenic diet achieves its success from getting your body to go into a state thats called ketosis.
Once your body is established on the diet and your body has adjusted, most experts agree that its OK to be a little less militant in carbs completely off the dinner plate.
However, when youre first starting out on keto, its pretty important to be very careful about hidden carbs and follow your diet pretty strictly as otherwise, you might not ever really achieve ketosis.
Like Adkins before it, the Keto diet is high fat and low carb.
When you shed the carbs from your diet, your body enters a state of ketosis where it starts to burn stored fats for energy instead of the carbs you would normally be eating.
The low carb levels in your body lower your bodys glucose levels forcing your body to find alternate forms of energy. So it begins to burn your stored fats.
As that happens your body naturally loses body fat.
Normal inexpensive balsamic vinegar tends to have 4 grams of carbs per 1 tablespoon and 4 grams of sugars per tablespoon and, of course, no fat.
So right out of the gate, we know that balsamic vinegar, while perhaps not high in carbs, doesnt quite meet the test of low carb, high fat associated with keto.
Heres a handy chart showing the most common types of vinegar and how they stack up.
| Type of Vinegar |
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What’s The Best Way To Choose Keto Wine
As mentioned, dry wine is the best option on keto. Be it red, white, or rosé, you want wine that has the least amount of residual sugars.A good rule of thumb for choosing keto-friendly wine is to look for bottles that contain less than 10 grams of sugar. However, nutrition information isn’t typically included on wine bottles or restaurant menus, so you’ll have to do your own sleuthing.
One surefire way to reduce your risk of consuming hidden sugars is to avoid cheap, low-quality wine producers. Many commercial brands use added sugar to compensate for the lack of quality.
Instead of going mainstream, opt for wines that are made using Old World practices and dont rely on additives. Also, look for wines that have “no added sugar” on the label so you have a better chance of keeping your carb count down.
Usual Wines sources grapes from small, sustainably farmed winemakers who favor traditional winemaking techniques. Plus, none of these wines have any added sugars or additives.
It’s also worth checking out biodynamic wines, which sometimes have lower naturally occurring sugars and certainly no synthetic ingredients. In general, you’ll want to avoid non-keto wines such as sangria, dessert wines, wine coolers, and any other sugary wines that aren’t dry.
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.
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Hard Liquor: The Best Alcohol For Keto
Most clear liquors that are around 40 percent alcohol contain 0 grams of carbs and sugars on their own, which means theyre keto-friendly in moderation.
The issue arrives if you want to mix your liquor with something to make it more palatable.
Mixing your keto approved spirits with straight water or seltzer is perfectly acceptable on keto, but tonic water can contain 32 to 33 grams of carbs per 12 ounces. Likewise, when you mix hard liquor with things like fruit juice, sodas or behind-the-bar mixers , youre opening yourself up to a lot of unexpected liquid carbs.
If youre really craving a little something more than just plain tequila on the rocks, you can still enjoy refreshing keto alcohol drinks that swap out sugary mixers, or ask the bartender to make you something using bitters.
Some bitters contain as little as 2 grams of carbs per half teaspoon. That may seem like a lot of carbs in a small amount of bitters, but you usually dont need more than a half teaspoon to flavor a drink and help it taste like a cocktail rather than straight liquor.
Diet soda is also an option, but many on keto choose to avoid artificial sweeteners, so choose what fits your diet journey the best.
Keep in mind that flavored alcohols and liqueurs can and often do contain extra sugar. Be mindful of how much you consume, and how those fit into your daily macros.
Heres the rundown on how different types of hard liquor can fit into a keto lifestyle.
Alcohol Contains Empty Calories
Alcohol is rich in empty calories, meaning that it contains many calories without vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients that your body needs.
This can not only potentially contribute to nutritional deficiencies but may also lead to weight gain over time.
Alcohol is the second most calorie-dense nutrient after fat packing 7 calories per gram .
Adding even a single serving of alcohol to your diet every day can add hundreds of extra calories while contributing next to no protein, fiber or micronutrients.
If youre not adjusting your diet to account for these extra calories, they may lead to weight gain, regardless of your carb intake.
Summary
Alcohol contains a high number of calories but is low in important nutrients like protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
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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
The Best And Worst Drinks For Keto:
Keto dieters will know that there are a lot of hidden carbs in day to day foods and drinks, and alcohol is no exception. Cocktails, beer, and some wines are loaded with hidden carbs. Heres our quick list of the best and worst alcohol you can drink on a keto diet:
Low-carb alcohol for keto:
- Hard liquors are almost all carb free, and can be enjoyed straight or with low-carb mixers. Watch out for those calories though!
- Wine tends to have 3-4g of carbs per glass, dry whites or reds being the best for their low sugar content.
- Light beer and low-carb beer contain around 3-4g of carbs per can, so as long as youre drinking in moderation, you should be fine.
Drinks to avoid on keto:
- Cocktails and mixed drinks are the worst offenders, often full of syrupy mixers, juice, or soda.
- Regular beers are basically carb water, so opt for the light alternatives.
- Liqueurs or after-dinner wines are packed with carbs and sugars.
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Best Wines For A Keto Diet Available From Drinkwell
DrinkWell offers a variety of no and low carbohydrate alternatives, with a couple of sparkling wine options. Try our Vilarnau Sparkling Brut Rose, containing just 3.7g of carbohydrates, 28 calories and zero alcohol per 125ml.
We also stock the largest selection of keto-friendly wines in the UK. Choose from a wide range of red wines, white wines, rose wines and sparkling wines, all with low carbohydrates and ideal for a keto diet. If youre not sure what youre looking for, try our Discovery Case, containing 6 delicious low-carbohydrate, keto-friendly wines.
- A Bit of Everything
