After being on keto for a while, there may come a time when you want to go to happy
hour with co-workers or enjoy a cocktail with friends or family. While this isn’t something
you should do all the time, you can still have alcohol and follow the ketogenic lifestyle.
Just like anything else, you need to know how many carbs are in the alcoholic
beverages. Here are some things to know about drinking alcohol while on keto.
Stick to the Clear Liquors
The first thing you should do if you want to have alcohol while on keto is to choose your
liquor. This does tend to be better than other alcohol as far as the carbs and calories go.
When choosing liquor, the easiest thing to do is go with your clear liquors. They tend to
be lower in carbs before you mix anything with them. It is often what you mix liquor with
that increases the carbs and other macros, so try to have it straight, or combined just
with water. Some good clear liquors to try are rum, tequila, gin, and vodka. Some
colored liquors are okay, but in lesser quantities, like dark rum or whiskey.
Stick to White Wine
As far as wine goes, the amount you have determines whether or not it will fit in your
keto diet. For the most part, they all average around 3-3.5 carbs per serving, but white
wines do tend to be lower in carbs overall. Sauvignon blanc is the wine with the least
amount of carbs, with 2.7 carbs per glass. Other white wines that are good options are
pinot grigio, champagne, and chardonnay. Stay away from Riesling, which is sweet and
is over 5 carbs per glass. For red wines, the best ones are pinot noir and merlot.
Light Beer Occasionally
If you are more of a beer fan, you can still have beer, but like anything on keto, you
need to know the carb count and make sure you are tracking it. It is a better idea to plan
on when you will have beer, so that you eat mostly low carb foods for the rest of the
day. Many light beers will have about 3-5 net carbs beer can or bottle, so it can add up
fast when you are only allotted 20 carbs in the entire day. This is why tracking while on
keto is so important.