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Low-carb alcoholic drinks like vodka and tequila are fine in small amounts on the ketogenic diet, but what about wine? For all you wine lovers out there, this article should clear up everything you need to know about keto wine.
Most wines have a high sugar content and will increase your insulin and blood sugar levels. But there are some keto-friendly wines you can drink and maintain ketosis.
The Effects Of Keto Diet
Ketogenic or keto is a type of diet wherein the person produces more calories from fats and proteins than carbohydrates.
Those under the keto diet decrease their intake of easy-to-digest carbohydrates such as pastries, sugar, soda, and white bread. This works by making the body undergo ketosis. It breaks down fats and proteins to produce energy, thus making you lose weight.
People typically use the keto diet for weight loss, but it also helps with some medical conditions like epilepsy. The keto diet is also used to treat acne, certain brain diseases, and heart disease. However, these applications require further research and findings.
However, the keto diet has a negative effect because the byproducts of ketosis are ketone bodies . These chemicals can be toxic to your body, especially if you have Type 1 diabetes.
Thats why it is essential to consult with your doctor first before undergoing a keto diet.
Keto Wine: 10 Best Low Carb Wines
Drake is famous for a lot of things, including the quote, Seven days without wine makes one weak. Though thats not based on a clinical study, if you can relate to it, then we can say with scientific certainty, youre really into wine. If youre reading this article youre also probably into keto and wondering if theres such a thing as low-carb keto wine.
Luckily there are many low-carb wines you can enjoy on a keto diet.
Here are our tips for selecting the best keto wine, and a list of the 10 best keto wines to choose from.
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Comparison Of Keto Wine To Other Alcoholic Drinks
Wine is preferable for people who undergo a keto diet because it has lower carbs than other alcoholic drinks. Distilled spirits such as gin, rum, whiskey, tequila, and vodka have zero carbohydrates due to the removal of sugar through distillation.
However, most cocktails and mixed drinks that use these spirits are made with syrups, sodas, and high-sugar juices. An example of this is Long Island Iced Tea which has 33 g of carbs per 8.3 ounces due to the combination of lemon juice, cola, and simple syrup.
Another drink that is not ideal for a low-carb diet is beer because it has starch that is high in carbs. A can of beer is about 12 ounces and has more than 12g of carbohydrate content.
Wine coolers also have high carbohydrate content. Smirnoff has about 26g while Breezer has 30g, so you should not consume them on a keto diet.
How To Buy Keto
For a wine that suits a ketogenic diet, I recommend a three-step selection process:
- If the residual sugar content is on the label, youll choose an option with less than 4g/L. However, you will rarely find this information.
- In this case, choose a grape variety on the list below from a traditional winemaker you trust.
- Watch out for the designation as a dry wine. However, this can carry a range of 4 to 9 g/L of residual sugar due to the acidity.
However, with mass-produced wines from the supermarket, you must be careful even with the following keto-friendly grape varieties. Also, when it comes to wine, many customers are lured by the addictive factor of sugar.
Against this background, a well-known saying is mostly true:
Life is too short to drink cheap wine.
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Guidelines For Alcohol Consumption On A Low Carb Or Ketogenic Diet
If you choose to enjoy alcohol as part of your low carb plan, follow these simple rules:
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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Why Wine Is Keto
Wine is usually reduced to the fact that it is an alcoholic beverage. However, contrary to popular belief, even alcohol can be healthy.
According to this Dutch study, moderate alcohol consumption can extend life by up to five years compared to abstinence .
In addition, one study found that moderate alcohol consumption carries the lowest risk of heart disease. But, of course, we are talking about a single glass of wine a day .
But while spirits and beer can have adverse effects, wine consumption can reduce cardiovascular disease mortality.
According to the Copenhagen City Heart Study, even 3-5 glasses of wine a day could reduce mortality by an astonishing 50% .
The secret behind this lies in the production of the wine.
What Makes A Wine Dry
What is a dry wine and can both red and white wines be dry?
A wine is considered dry if it contains less than 10 grams of sugar per bottle. But without nutrition information printed on the bottle or the menu, how can you tell which wines are lower in sugar?
First, you have to understand that sugar in wine has a specific function. During the fermentation process, the yeasts feed on the natural sugar from the grapes to produce ethanol .
Because of this, the result doesnt contain as much sugar as it did in the beginning when it was a mash of grapes. But that doesnt mean wine is sugar-free.
Sweet wines, as opposed to dry ones, have a much shorter fermentation process. Since the yeast does not have a chance to consume all the sugar, more of it gets left behind. This leftover sugar contributes to the sweet, fruity flavor, and as a result, youll find more carbs in each glass or bottle.
Thats why youll always want to look for the phrase dry wine when choosing a wine.
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Health & Wellnessi Tried The Ketogenic Diet For 30 Days Heres What I Learned
What makes a wine keto-friendly
First, its good to know a little bit about how wine is made. The first step is choosing the grapes, which vary by type and region. Once the grapes are picked, theyre crushed and pressed, ultimately turning them into a juice. At this point, they will either turn into white wines or red wines . The juice is left to ferment, which is a process where the sugars turn into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Red wines and white wines are fermented in different ways, using different additives, chemicals and yeast strains, but regardless of the type, they all end up in a barrel where they age and eventually are bottled.
Like all things with Keto, the overall carb and sugar content are the factors to consider in wine. This is determined by a few things. How the wine is made, the alcohol content and how dry is the wine.
Residual sugar
Another critical factor is the residual sugar left in the wine. Sugar is always going to be in grapes, after all, its a naturally sweet plant. However, they can ferment long enough so that all the sugar turns into alcohol. Residual sugar is the natural sugar left over by grapes after the fermentation process. Residual sugars can be left behind by stopping the fermentation process early, which would produce a sweeter end product . However, if a winemaker allows the wine to fully ferment, the result is a drier wine with lower RS and, therefore, fewer carbs.
Keeping on track with ketosis
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How Much Should We Drink On Keto
Most short-term, in-depth keto diets do not recommend drinking alcohol at all.
That said, if youre working on a longer-term nutrition lifestyle change, your best bet is likely the moderation model:
- No more than 2 drinks per day for men*
- No more than 1 drink per day for women*
The funny thing about alcohol is that we digest it very differently than other calories. Part of the effort happens with these handy little enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenase. Enzymes help chemically process alcohol calories through our liver, stomach, and kidneys. So, were still not sure if we burn alcohol calories as efficiently as other calories.
In case youre wondering: The reason why women cant drink as much is because women have than men. Its a shame, but also a fact.
*As we all well know, everyones physiology is different and more! Talk to a doctor or nutritionist about your unique situation.
Last Word: Drink Wine Even If Its Folly
If youre seriously committing to the keto thing, you might want to stop drinking altogether while your body adjusts. After this process, you might be able to start adding dry wines back into your diet.
Whats life without living a little?
After taking a deep dive into the keto diet and learning from others, we did notice a trend: the people who stick to a diet and exercise regime are the ones who get results. So, if we learned anything from this whole process, its that doing the work will get you the results you want.
You can do it. Salut!
Best Red Wines By Grams Of Carbs Per Serving
Good news for red wine lovers! Some of the most delicious red wines also happen to be low-carb.
Not to mention they pair amazingly with some of your favorite keto foods like steak and cheese.
Look for these low-carb red wines on the menu:
- Cabernet Sauvignon 3-4g net carbs
- Chianti 3-4g net carbs
- Dry Rosé 3g net carbs
- Grenache 4g net carbs
- Pinot Noir 3-4g net carbs
- Red Zinfandel 4-5g net carbs
- Sangiovese 4g net carbs
- Wine coolers
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Will One Cheat Day Ruin Ketosis
A cheat day that involves consuming high-carb foods may disrupt ketosis, but a glass of wine wouldnt. That amount of wine in a day is optimal because too much alcohol will negatively affect your body.
Being on a keto diet makes you prone to stronger hangovers because the lack of carbs decreases your alcohol tolerance. Being drunk also lowers your inhibitions to eat high carbohydrate foods, thus disrupting ketosis.
How To Drink On Keto Without Sabotaging Your Progress
So instead, we give them the tools to succeed. And we’re passing some of those tools on to you. To reduce the impact of the carb load when you enjoy happy hour, follow the strategies below.
#1: Bank Your Carbohydrates
#2: Stick with Hard Alcohol
#3: Maintain Ketosis with Exogenous Ketones
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What We Learned On Our Hunt For Keto Wines
Bad News: youre not going to see RS listed on the label.
The US has no labeling requirements for nutrition, so no one adds it. Additionally, we found searching for this information online complicated.
It took me multiple back-and-forth emails to squeeze this information out of one producer.
Good News: Many wines will fit the bill! On our searches, we discovered a few key clues:
What Wines To Avoid
Wines with higher alcohol levels include varieties like , , , and You cant blame them for it. Theyre naturally high in sugar.
Whats more important to avoid is wines with higher sweetness levels . Sweet wines include , Port, and other
A Few Caveats About Keto Wine
While you can certainly drink alcohol on a keto diet, you may want to reconsider doing so for the following reasons:
- The effects of alcohol makes it easier to overeat and drink more. The higher the alcohol content, the more likely you are to sabotage ketosis.
- Alcohol consumption switches off your fat-burning potential. Your body prioritizes getting the alcohol out of your system overusing your fat for energy. This may slow down or even stall weight loss and ketone production.
- You may have a lower alcohol tolerance. There are many anecdotal reports of lower tolerance and worse hangovers when youre running off ketones.
Even though its fine to weave a drink into your weekly keto meal plan here and there especially a glass of low-carb wine it shouldnt be something you do every day. Especially if weight loss is your goal.
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How Wine Effects Ketosis
Keto & Alcohol A Love Story?
Yes, its true…the official keto diet is technically alcohol free. And its no surprise that drinking alcohol – especially in excess – isn’t exactly healthy or keto friendly. On the other hand, many experts have shown that some types of alcohol, in moderation, such as tequila, beer, wine, etc., can have pretty incredible health benefits . Though the hard core keto dieters might think differently, its common to enjoy alcoholic drinks when celebrating or socializing with friends. And many keto lovers believe that indulging in the occasional drink – even while sticking to the keto diet – wont completely derail your health and fitness goals. In fact, there are plenty of alcoholic drinks you can drink while on keto.
The Science
Tips For Drinking Wine On Keto
To Drink or Not?
Whether you are on a diet or not, sometimes you just need a nice glass of wine. Luckily, wine can fit into almost any diet plan through thoughtful consideration. Here are some good tips to consider when drinking wine on a keto diet:
- First, beware of your tolerance: most people on a ketogenic diet or low carb diet experience a much lower tolerance alcohol than they are used to. Make sure to pace yourself and watch your intake.
- Be careful of dehydration as ketosis is a natural diuretic and you have to be watchful of how much water you are drinking along with the alcohol.
- When you choose to drink wine, have some fats alongs with it, so you don’t get an isolated blood sugar spike which could ruin your ketosis.
- Remember everything is okay in moderation!
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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.
