Do you ever experience one of those days when you just want to sit in your hot tub with a glass of wine and relax? Or perhaps you’re celebrating an important occasion and a glass of wine just sounds perfect to complement your savory meal.
When on a keto diet, you might worry about having wine at all with your favorite keto meats such as red meats, poultry, and keto-friendly pork rinds, concerned about it throwing you out of ketosis and derailing your weight loss progress. But is wine a complete no-no in keto? We explore what experts and keto dieters say about drinking wine while observing the ketogenic diet.
The ketogenic diet regime is a low-carb, high-fat diet. It eliminates or limits the consumption of carbohydrates and increases fat and protein consumption to facilitate weight loss and achieve other health benefits. Specifically, the ketogenic diet requires you to follow the daily macronutrients of 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.
The whole point of the ketogenic diet is to force the body into a state of ketosis. Normally, the body uses carbohydrates and glucose to create energy. When you cut down on these, it’s forced to target its fat storage, converting it into ketones to create fuel. According to nutritionists, when energy is derived from ketones instead of carbs, weight loss is a natural result.
Aside from effective and quick weight loss, research has also linked the ketogenic diet to other health benefits, including reduced risk of diabetes, cardiovascular health, and a healthier gut.
Keto experts believe that wine, as well as other alcoholic drinks, have a direct impact on ketosis. While you can still enjoy a glass of wine on keto, practitioners warn that it will slow down your weight loss progress.
This is because the liver stops everything it is doing to prioritize processing the alcohol consumed as quickly as possible. According to health and wellness practitioner Richard Purvis, the liver will use the alcohol in the body before all other nutrients, including fat.
It will be too busy trying to remove the alcohol from the bloodstream, putting the process of converting fat into ketones on the back burner. While this won’t kick you out of ketosis, it will temporarily delay it until all the alcohol has been dealt with.
Nutritionists say that the ketogenic diet, like other low-carb diets, may also affect your alcohol tolerance. Because there is less glycogen in your body from limited carb intake, alcohol is sent to your liver faster, forcing it to start metabolizing the alcohol immediately. The faster alcohol is sent to your liver, the faster you get intoxicated and the worse the hangovers are the next morning.
As aptly put by Dr. Anthony Gustin, “When you're in ketosis, alcohol hits your system faster and stronger than it did when your body was housing more carbohydrates. Your alcohol tolerance plummets to near zero when you're in ketosis.”
When drinking wine, plenty of keto dieters also report craving carbs more intensely. Since inhibitions are lowered, it becomes more tempting to reach for that bowl of fries or other high-carb foods readily available at a social gathering. According to Dr. Gustin, your body will be craving more calories as soon as you have your first glass.
Keto dieters are, however, still able to enjoy wine and other alcoholic drinks. While wine has an impact on ketosis, it won’t erase all your progress. But to stay true to your keto diet, practitioners recommend opting for low-carb and low-sugar wines. You should also minimize wine consumption and ensure you don’t go over your daily carb allowance.
Regular table wine has around 1 to 4 grams of carbohydrates and 4 to 16 calories per 5 oz. glass. Still, the carb content will differ in different types of wine.
Keto practitioners consider red and white wine as the most keto-friendly. Red wine contains 1 to 2 grams of carbs from seed extract and 0 to 2 grams of carbs from leftover grape sugars. White wine, on the other hand, has 0 to 4 grams of carbohydrates.
To get an accurate carb count, keto experts suggest looking at the wine label. While some wines don’t include the total carb count in their nutrition label, you can calculate the net carbs using this simple formula:
Total Carbs - Fiber - Half the Carbs from Sugar Alcohols = Net Carbs (g)
To find wines that contain the least amount of carbs, keto dieters swear by these tips:
When drinking wine on keto, practitioners suggest opting for wine types with the least residual sugar and low alcohol content. Doing this will help reduce carb intake and slow down the rate of intoxication. Red wines, white wines, and rosé wines are favorites among keto dieters.
Red wines only contain a negligible amount of carbs, with most variations having only 1 to 2 grams of carbs per serving. Nutritionists do recommend light-bodied, dry red wine for the keto diet, which has less residual sugar and a lower carb count than bolder reds.
Here are some popular red wines and their carbohydrate content per 5-ounce serving at a glance:
|
Red Wine |
Carbohydrates |
|
3.3 grams |
|
|
3.4 grams |
|
|
3.7 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
4.2 grams |
|
|
5 grams |
If you prefer white wines over reds, you’ll be happy to know that there are also white wine varieties that can fit into your keto macros. Dry wines are the most recommended by keto practitioners since they’re low-carb. The dryer the white wine, the lower the residual sugars and carb content.
In the table are some keto-friendly white wines and their carb count per 5-ounce serving.
|
White Wine |
Carbohydrates |
|
3 grams |
|
|
3.2 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
3.8 grams |
|
|
4 grams |
|
|
4 grams |
|
|
4.9 grams |
|
|
5.5 grams |
Unlike other wine varieties, rosé wines aren’t made of one specific grape. Because of that, rosé wines will have different carb content, depending on the grape variety used to produce it.
Common grape varieties in rosé wine include Grenache, Sangiovese, and Pinot Noir. The table below shows their carb content per 5-ounce serving:
|
Rosé Wine |
Carbohydrates |
|
3.2 grams |
|
|
3.2 grams |
|
|
2.9 grams |
There are rosé wine varieties that are high in carbs and should be avoided when on keto. These include sweet and sparkling rosés, such as a Pink Moscato that starts with 8 grams of carbs per 5-ounce serving. Some varieties go as high as 15 grams of carbs.
So wine consumption does not interfere with ketosis, keto dieters stress the importance of choosing wines with low residual sugars and alcohol content. They suggest avoiding sweet, dessert, and fortified wines, as well as cheap wines that likely have added sugar that helps reduce acidity.
Specifically, keto practitioners typically avoid these types of wine because of their high carb content per 5-ounce serving:
|
Wine |
Carbohydrates |
|
9 grams |
|
|
13.1 grams |
|
|
19.2 grams |
|
|
20.1 grams |
|
|
20.1 grams |
Generally, the consensus is that drinking wine doesn’t kick you out of ketosis, as long as you choose the best varieties with low-carb content and drink in moderation. Keto practitioners urge that you make yourself aware of the possible effects of wine consumption on your diet goals, including delaying progress, lowering alcohol tolerance, and intensifying carb cravings.
Drinking wine responsibly will not only help you stay on course with your ketogenic diet but will also guarantee your health and safety.
Wine varieties that contain low residual sugars and low carbs are keto-friendly. These include red wines like Shiraz, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, white wines like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer, and rosé wines like Grenache, Sangiovese, and Pinot Noir. Avoid sweet, dessert, fortified, and cheap wines that contain added sugars.
Moderation is key when drinking wine on a ketogenic diet. To account for lower alcohol tolerance and ensure you don’t exceed your daily carb allowance, keto practitioners recommend having no more than one to two glasses of wine a day.
Alcoholic drinks can be keto-friendly as long as they contain zero carbs or a negligible amount. Pure alcohol like whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, and tequila contain no carbs. While wine and light beer are relatively low in carbs, usually no more than 6 grams per 5-ounce serving. Nutritionists warn against drinking cocktails on keto as they contain added sugars.
