Many people who enjoy wine may find that the dietary plan they are following does not fully coincide with their love of wine.The ketogenic (keto) diet is a popular low-carb, high-fat diet, that helps people lose weight, improve their health, and increase their energy.When carbohydrate intake is low enough, the body enters ketosis, a metabolic state in which the body begins burning fat for energy. The liver uses stored and consumed fat to produce ketone molecules for energy.Many people wonder if they have to limit their wine consumption because they’re concerned about the calories or sugar content.Fortunately, you can still enjoy wine while remaining in ketosis, but it will slow the process down. When you savor that glass of wine, your liver drops everything it was doing in order to process the alcohol as quickly as possible. That means other nutrients - including fat - are put on a temporary backburner.
Can You Drink Wine on Keto?
Yes, you can drink wine on keto.The short answer to your question is yes - you can drink wine while on the keto diet. However, not all forms of wine (or alcohol itself, for that matter) are equal in the diet’s eyes. Since the basic tenet of the keto diet involves limiting your intake of carbohydrates, you'll need to stick with wines that have low or no carbs.Since your goal is to limit carbs, red wine is actually the perfect choice. Red wines are naturally a little higher in calories than whites due to the tannins, but they usually don't have added sugar or sugar substitutes. This means the total calories are lower, and they don't have nearly the same amount of carbohydrates.Some types of white wine can be consumed on the keto diet. However, since white wines tend to be sweeter and contain more sugar in wine than reds, you'll need to be careful. Try to avoid any white wine where the label says sugar added or anything marketed as a dessert wine. These will have artificially increased carbs to make them sweeter, and they can easily break your diet.
Keto-Friendly Wine Varieties
Fortunately, there are several wines that have little to no carbohydrates! Dry wines are your best bet, and any sparkling wines marked as “brut,” “extra brut,” or “brut nature” will have the lowest amount of carbs. As for the wines to avoid, you’ll want to think twice before sipping on sweeter wines. It’s not their fault - they’re naturally high in residual sugar - but they’re too carb-heavy for the keto diet.
Here are a few of the wines you can drink on keto:
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Chardonnay
- Merlot
- Pinot Blanc
- Pinot Grigio
- Sauvignon Blanc
Many wines have little to no carbohydrates. This is good news because carbs are the nemesis of the ketosis diet. It’s important to note, however, that not all wines are keto-friendly. Ideally, a keto wine should have low alcohol (13.5% ABV or less) and little to no residual sugar. This scenario is a dry wine with 108 calories (from alcohol) and 0 carbs per 150 ml (~5 oz) serving. Not bad!
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to Sugar on Keto
Wines to Avoid
Along with choosing the right wine, moderation is key. You can absolutely savor a glass of your favorite vino during dinner here and there, especially if you’re changing your lifestyle for the long run.
Avoid the following wines while on a keto diet:
- Cabernet
- Grenache
- Moscato
- Port, sherry, and other dessert wines
- Riesling
- Rosé
- Sangria (red or white)
- Shiraz
- Wine coolers and frozen wine pops/drinks
- Zinfandel
Wines with higher alcohol levels include varieties like Shiraz, Pinotage, Zinfandel, and Grenache. You can’t blame them for it. They’re naturally high in sugar. What’s more important to avoid is wines with higher sweetness levels (anything above 30 g/L RS or 4.5g carbs). Sweet wines include Moscato, Port, and other dessert wines.
Understanding Residual Sugar
To answer this question, here’s a refresher course on how wine is made. Before grapes ferment into wine, they are sugary. Little yeasts, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, gobble up grape sugar and produce alcohol. Sometimes though, the winemaker stops the yeast from eating all the sugar. As it happens, leaving some residual sugar in dry wine can increase the “likeability factor.” Many wines marketed as “dry” have anywhere from 0-30 grams per liter of residual sugar. Surprisingly, they taste dry.
Many wines contain residual sugar from the fermentation process, and the more residual sugar, the more carbs in the wine. Sweeter wines have a shorter fermentation process, which means less time to break down sugar, and therefore more sugar is left behind. (This is also what gives sweet wines their sugary, fruity flavor).
Read also: Troubleshooting Carnivore Diet Diarrhea
Wine is considered dry if it contains 10 grams of sugar per bottle or less. Although it is hard to find a totally dry wine, you can find plenty of keto-friendly wine options if you know what types of naturally low-sugar wines to look for. Shop for sparkling wines (i.e. champagne, cava, and prosecco), dry reds like merlot and pinot noir, and whites such as sauvignon blancs. Many bottles will even say “dry” right on the label. Another helpful tip is to look for higher alcohol content wines, as this indicates most of the sugar has been fermented into alcohol.
Sparkling wines labeled Brut and Extra Brut typically have the lowest amounts of residual sugar-as little as 1.5 grams of carbs (or less!) per glass.
Recommended Keto Wine Brands
With so many types of wine on the market, it's no wonder that finding keto-friendly ones can be confusing.
Here are some of the best keto wine brands:
- Fitvine Wine: FitVine is a wine brand with a wide range of low-calorie and low-carb wine options. Their Sauvignon Blanc is a great choice for a low-carb wine because it's still packed with a sweet, fruity flavor without all the added sugar. It's also low in sulfates, which can be very helpful if you have a wine allergy. Best of all, it's still 12%-14% ABV, which is a good wine alcohol content, especially for a low-carb option. This is definitely a white wine worth trying.
- Josh Cellars: If you're looking for a wine brand that isn't focused on offering low-carb and low-calorie options, Josh Cellars is a good choice. They're actually a traditional winery that just happens to put out a number of products that fit the bill. In particular, their Cabernet Sauvignon offers a robust and flavorful glass of wine with only 3.8 grams of carbs. You can't likely have more than one glass, but this is definitely a glass worth having.
- Bota Box Wine: Our final selection for low-carb wine comes in a handy box for easy transport. Bota Box wine offers a great wine for a great price and it's environmentally friendly thanks to the bag-in-box construction. We personally recommend the Pinot Grigio which is only 3.2 grams of carbs. With nectarine, white peach, and light florals you'll truly enjoy smelling wine when you pour yourself a glass of this one.
Moderation is Key
Along with choosing the right wine, moderation is key. You can absolutely savor a glass of your favorite vino during dinner here and there, especially if you’re changing your lifestyle for the long run. For males, moderation means no more than 2 glasses per day.
Read also: Aspartame and Ketosis
If you drink on a diet, stick to moderation. For males, moderation means no more than 2 glasses per day. Most short-term, in-depth keto diets do not recommend drinking alcohol at all.
Alcohol Digestion and Keto
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, we’re still not sure if we burn alcohol calories as efficiently as other calories. The reason why women can’t drink as much is because women have less alcohol-digesting enzymes than men.
If you’re 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.
Additional Considerations
- Individual Physiology: Everyone’s physiology is different and some lineages ought to moderate more! Talk to a doctor or nutritionist about your unique situation.
- Labeling: The US has no labeling requirements for nutrition, so no one adds it.
- European Wines: European wines (France, Italy, Greece, etc.) tend to prioritize dryness. So you might try more Nebbiolo, Bordeaux, Chianti, Rioja, or even that compelling Xinomavro listed above!
Additional Keto-Friendly Alcoholic Beverages
While following a keto diet, you may be able to enjoy alcoholic drinks that are low in carbs, like hard liquor and light beer.
Here’s how the top keto-friendly drinks stack up:
- Rum: 1.5 oz (44 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Vodka: 1.5 oz (44 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Gin: 1.5 oz (44 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Tequila: 1.5 oz (44 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Whiskey: 1.5 oz (44 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Flavored Martini or Cosmopolitan: 3.3 oz (100 mL) - 6.66 g carbs
- Bloody Mary: 5 oz (150 mL) - 5.70 g carbs
- Red Wine: 5 oz (150 mL) - 3.92 g carbs
- White Wine: 5 oz (150 mL) - 3.90 g carbs
- Light Beer: 12 oz (360 mL) - 2.63 g-5.90 g carbs
Keto-Friendly Mixers
Keto-friendly mixers are just as important as the alcohol itself. Watch for common mixers like regular soda, juice, sweeteners, and energy drinks. They can quickly turn a carb-free drink into a high calorie carb bomb. Instead, opt for low carb mixers like diet soda, seltzer, diet tonic water, and powdered flavor packets. These mixers can keep your carb intake low while boosting your beverage’s taste.
Here’s the carb content of a few keto-friendly mixers:
- Diet Cola: 12 oz (360 mL) - 1.04 g carbs
- Diet Ginger Ale: 12 oz (360 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Plain Carbonated Water, Like Seltzer: 12 oz (360 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Sweetened Carbonated Water, Like Diet Tonic Water: 12 oz (360 mL) - 0 g carbs
- Powdered Drink Mixes, Like Crystal Light or Wyler’s Light: 1 packet (2 g) - 1.75 g carbs
High-Carb Alcoholic Beverages to Avoid
Many alcoholic beverages are loaded with carbs, with some varieties packing over 30 g in a single serving. For example, cocktails and mixed drinks usually rely on high carb, sugary ingredients like soda, juice, sweeteners, or syrups. Meanwhile, regular beer is produced from starch and can contain upward of 12 g of carbs in just 1 can.
Here’s a comparison of the carb content of several popular alcoholic beverages. Avoid them if you’re on a keto diet:
- Whiskey Sour: 3 oz (90 mL) - 14.49 g carbs
- Margarita: 4 oz (120 mL) - 19.32 g carbs
- Piña Colada: 4.3 oz (130 mL) - 25.35 g carbs
- Red Sangria: 7.6 oz (228 mL) - 18.80 g carbs
- Regular Beer: 12 oz (355 mL) - 12.80 g carbs
Also, keep in mind that the drinks you might get at a bar or restaurant may be much larger than the recommended serving sizes above.
Potential Downsides of Alcohol Consumption on Keto
Although plenty of low carb, keto-friendly alcoholic beverages are available, that doesn’t mean they should become a regular part of your routine. Even low carb varieties of alcohol are still rich in “empty” calories. They supply many calories with little to no essential nutrients like protein, fiber, vitamins, or minerals.
Not only can overindulging in alcohol increase your risk of nutritional deficiencies over time, but it may also contribute to gradual weight gain. Alcohol can also suppress fat burning and increase body fat by causing your body to store extra calories as fat tissue.
Excessive drinking may also contribute to other serious health conditions, including liver problems, cancer, and heart disease. For this reason, it’s best to keep alcohol intake moderate - defined as one drink per day for women and two per day for men.
Frequently Asked Questions About Keto Friendly Wine
With so many people adopting new diets every day, more and more questions are arising about drinking wine. Instead of giving it up entirely, most people are hoping to keep the delicious substance in their life in some way.
Can You Drink Wine Every Night On Keto?
You probably can't drink wine every night on a keto diet. Since you have an allotted amount of carbs for each day, you need to balance them across your meals and snacks. If you have enough left over, then feel free, but you might want to stick to a glass of wine only occasionally.
What Is The Lowest Carb Wine?
The lowest carb wine is Sauvignon Blanc. Generally, dry wines have lower carbs than their sweeter cousins and Sauvignon Blanc is no different. White wine has an average of 3.8 grams of carbs in a 5 oz standard wine pour, but Sauvignon Blanc only has 2 grams of carbs. This makes it the ideal wine for someone on a keto diet.
What Is The Best Wine To Drink On Atkins Diet?
Like keto, the Atkins diet relies on a low-carb diet, so the same wines are acceptable. Stick to a Sauvignon Blanc for a guaranteed wine you can enjoy, or check out other low-calorie options of wine varietals you enjoy. Just make sure to avoid fortified wines and those with sugar added.