Can you drink alcohol while on the keto diet?

Drinking alcohol won’t stop the effects of the keto diet, but there are some things to strongly consider

Photo by Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

The good news: Drinking alcohol won’t stop your ketosis altogether.

The (not so) bad news: It won’t entirely ruin your low-carb diet, but it won’t help it either. Besides, there are a few things you should strongly consider when mixing alcohol with the keto diet.

Drinking alcohol’s effect on the keto diet

Note that your body won’t stop producing ketones despite alcohol consumption. On the brighter side, it can “deepen your level of ketosis, but will slow down weight loss.” However, your body treats alcohol as a toxin, and your liver will quickly get rid of it as soon as it enters your body, which isn’t something you should worry about. But the main catch is when your body starts to take care of your liver, your metabolism will be put on hold, says health and wellness practitioner Richard Purvis.

“The liver will start to process alcohol as quickly as possible, which means it is used by the body before all other nutrients, including fat, so it slows the process of converting fatty acids to ketones,” he says. Simply put: The more you consume alcohol, the more slowly you’ll lose weight because your body will  burn toxins first before anything else.

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

Not all alcoholic drinks are advisable

What to drink and what not to drink should be your priority when you’re on the keto diet. Just because alcohol doesn’t completely sabotage your ketosis doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be more considerate of what you drink, specifically high-carb options.

Having said that, the keto diet is best accompanied with dry wine than beer. “Wine is much lower in carbs than beer, so most people who eat keto choose wine. Pure spirits like whiskey and vodka contain zero carbs, but watch out for sweet drinks—they may contain massive amounts of sugar,” says Andreas Eenfeldt, MD.

Beer, in general, is a must-avoid alcohol while on the keto diet. The digestible carbs in beer known as “liquid bread” are the main reason why people have beer bellies.

Brace yourself for extreme hangovers

When you consume tons of carbs, your rate at getting drunk will most likely slow down because your glycogen stores are filled. You’re that someone whose alcohol tolerance is at an extreme level. However, since the keto diet focuses on reducing carb intake, intoxication will probably hit you rapidly and getting over hangovers might be harder more than ever.

“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,” says Dr. Anthony Gustin, D.C., M.S.

So long as you’re willing to pay the price, it’s all good. After all, your body, your decision. Just make sure you won’t regret the hangover you’ll getthe next day.

For the list of alcoholic drinks that work well with the keto diet, click here.