The ketogenic (keto) diet is centered around consuming high-fat and low-carb foods and drinks. If you're following the keto diet, you might wonder what you can drink aside from water. While water is the healthiest choice, being free of calories, carbs, and additives, you may want a beverage to boost your energy, provide some flavor and variety, or replace some of your favorite sugary drinks.
Understanding the Keto Diet and Hydration
Hydration is important on the keto diet because carbs help your body hold onto the water it needs. Different from many other diets, the keto diet allows for a moderate amount of alcohol. However, this doesn’t mean you have to cut out all beverages and only drink water because that’ll be boring.
Gatorade Zero: A Closer Look
Gatorade Zero is a low-carb sports drink that aims to replenish electrolytes while being calorie and sugar-free. You’ll find Gatorade Zero in several flavors. This sports drink also offers a decent amount of electrolytes. In one bottle, you’ll get 50 mg of potassium and 160 mg of sodium, so it’ll help relieve keto flu symptoms. Technically, Gatorade Zero is keto-friendly. Gatorade Zero is an electrolyte drink with a serving size of 20 fl oz. Gatorade Zero is close to calorie-free and contains zero grams of sugar.
Electrolytes and the Keto Diet
It’s important to keep your electrolyte levels high, especially if you work out or play sports. Loss of electrolytes through sweat can exacerbate dehydration and lead to muscle cramping and headaches. Electrolyte drinks may also help combat the keto flu, a cluster of symptoms that includes fatigue, headaches, and muscle cramps that may occur when you first start the diet.
Artificial Sweeteners in Gatorade Zero
Gatorade Zero contains artificial sweeteners like acesulfame potassium (ace-K) and sucralose (Splenda). Acesulfame potassium is 200 times sweeter than sugar. It’s made by transforming acidic acid and combining it with potassium to make a sweetener. Sucralose is 400 to 700 times sweeter than sugar and even more potent than acesulfame potassium.
Read also: Alternatives to MiraLAX Prep
Concerns about Artificial Sweeteners
As a general rule, it’s a good idea to avoid artificial sweeteners, even when they’re keto-friendly. Diet soda, with its artificial sweeteners, tricks your body into receiving that sugar taste and fulfilling your sugar craving at no caloric cost to you. However, it comes with a price, as diet sodas have been linked with various health issues, including obesity. In fact, a study by Purdue researchers found that the artificial sweeteners in diet soda can trick your body into increasing your cravings for sweet foods. Sucralose (Splenda) causes liver inflammation and disrupts gut bacteria in mice[*].
However, although Gatorade Zero won’t kick you out of ketosis, you don’t want to drink too much. The sweet flavor you get when drinking zero calorie sweeteners triggers a reaction in your brain, and you crave more sweets. The second reasoning researchers presented involves insulin. We all know that insulin spikes in response to carbs and sugar, which is bad because it leads to weight gain. However, Gatorade Zero isn’t bad. If you’re regularly drinking sugary sodas, then swapping it out with Gatorade Zero is a keto friendly option.
Keto-Friendly Alternatives to Gatorade Zero
Instead of Gatorade Zero, consider trying Keto Perform. Keto Perform contains far more electrolytes than Gatorade Zero. Keto Perform is an electrolyte drink created for keto-dieters, and it contains much more electrolytes than Gatorade Zero. This makes it the perfect energy drink for during and after workouts because it replenishes lost electrolytes.
Other Keto-Friendly Beverage Options
If you’re following the keto diet, there’s a number of other beverages to drink besides water.
Hot Drinks
Several hot drinks are keto-friendly, though you should be mindful of what you add to them. Suitable additions include half-and-half, heavy whipping cream, unsweetened plant-based creamers, zero calorie sweeteners, and sugar-free flavoring syrups. You’ll want to avoid high carb additions like regular milk, sweetened creamers, sugar, honey, and standard flavoring syrups.
Read also: Gatorade Zero and Weight Loss
Tea
Tea is a natural option that contains a negligible number of carbs - typically less than 1 gram per cup (240 mL). You can enjoy it iced or hot (1, 2). Black tea is made from aged tea leaves, giving it a more robust flavor, darker color, and higher caffeine content. Meanwhile, green tea is made from fresh tea leaves, lending it a more floral flavor, lighter color, and less caffeine (3). You can also choose white tea, which is made from young tea leaves. It has a very mild, delicate flavor compared with both black and green tea (4). Furthermore, tea is essentially calorie-free and full of polyphenol antioxidants. For example, green tea is rich in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a powerful antioxidant that may provide anticancer benefits (3). On the approved list for the ketogenic diet are both green and black teas, as well as any other low-carb tea you enjoy. Besides sticking to the keto diet, green teas also come with many other benefits, like added phytonutrients. Herbal teas are infusions derived from dried flowers, fruit, leaves, or herbs. As such, you may want to check the carb count of packaged tea products before purchasing them.
Coffee
Coffee is another nearly calorie- and carb-free favorite that’s safe for the keto diet. Like tea, it can be consumed hot or iced (5). Coffee contains caffeine, which may give your metabolism a slight boost. It also provides chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol antioxidant that may likewise aid weight loss (6). Just like tea, coffee is definitely allowed on the keto diet. Ice tea and coffee is my personal favorite since it’s keto-friendly and super tasty.
Soft Drinks
Soft drinks are typically loaded with sugar or potentially harmful artificial sweeteners. However, keto-friendly options exist.
Alternative Diet Sodas
Although diet sodas like Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are technically keto, they may not be the best choice. That’s because they harbor artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame, which may damage the healthy bacteria in your gut and strengthen sugar cravings - potentially leading to weight gain (7). Conversely, several diet sodas are made with naturally derived zero calorie sweeteners like stevia or erythritol, a sugar alcohol derived from corn that has fewer negative effects than artificial sweeteners (8, 9, 10).
Sparkling Water
Sparkling water is carbonated either naturally from a mineral spring or during manufacturing by using carbon dioxide gas. Many sparkling water options are flavored, but they’re typically unsweetened - making them an excellent low carb choice. Shop for keto-friendly sparkling waters like Perrier, Aura Bora, and Hint online. Plain water can sometimes get a little boring. If you want something different that's also keto-friendly, load up on sparkling water.
Read also: Keto Guide: Gatorade Zero
Juices
In general, it’s best to avoid juice on keto, but there are a few safe options.
Fruit Juice
Fruit juice is typically loaded with sugar, making it inappropriate for the keto diet. Yet, there are exceptions, including lemon and lime juices, which are low in carbs but full of flavor. You can add them to plain water or other beverages, such as hot or iced tea, to liven up the taste.
Vegetable Juice
Some juiced vegetables are low in carbs and can be included on the keto diet. Still, keep in mind that juicing removes most of the nutritious fiber from the veggies unless you choose to drink the pulp. Some keto-friendly vegetables that can be juiced include (11, 12, 13, 14):
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Leafy greens like kale and spinach
If you don’t have a juicer, store-bought juices are sometimes available. Nonetheless, be sure to check the label on bottled veggie juices, as they may pack sugar or other carb sources. In fact, most contain at least 10 grams of carbs per serving, making them inappropriate for keto.
Flavored Drinks and Water Enhancers
Some keto-friendly beverages are flavored with small amounts of real fruit juice, which adds natural flavor and sweetness while keeping the carb count relatively low - usually 1-5 grams of net carbs per serving. Plus, you can add zero carb liquid or powdered water enhancers to tap or bottled water. They’re available in many flavors, and although they’re typically made with artificial flavors and sweeteners, others are unsweetened or use stevia. Shop for stevia-sweetened options like Stur or unsweetened products like True Lemon online.
Milk Alternatives
Although cow’s milk isn’t recommended on keto because it contains natural sugar, several plant-based alternatives are perfectly keto-friendly. Cow's milk contains lactose, which is a naturally occurring sugar, so it's not keto friendly, but there are many milk alternatives you can still enjoy just as much. Keep in mind that some brands add sugar to their milk alternatives, so it's always a good idea to check the label.
- Almond milk
- Coconut milk
- Macadamia nut milk
- Flaxseed milk
These products are great for drinking, pouring on keto-friendly cereals, and various culinary uses. Still, only the unsweetened versions of these milks are keto-friendly. Many plant-based milks are flavored and sweetened, making them inappropriate for keto.
Energy Drinks
Some energy drinks are keto-friendly, although many popular brands use artificial sweeteners. As such, you may want to choose from a handful that use natural sweeteners like stevia. You should be aware that energy drinks may harm the brain, heart, and liver, especially in adolescents and teens. They’re linked to heart failure in rare cases (19). If you decide to consume these beverages on occasion, keep their caffeine content in mind. Most energy drinks contain 150-200 mg per 16-ounce (475-mL) can, which you can compare with the recommended safe daily caffeine threshold of 400 mg for the general population (20). Shop for keto-friendly, naturally derived energy drinks like EBOOST and Kill Cliff online.
Sports Drinks
Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade contain electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, to help replenish those that are lost through sweat. For people who engage in intense exercise or outdoor workouts in the heat, electrolyte supplements and fluid rehydration are vital. Still, most sports drinks are loaded with sugar. Gatorade Zero and Powerade Zero are solid keto-friendly options, but they use artificial sweeteners. Some alternatives include electrolyte powders sweetened with stevia that you can mix into water.
Alcoholic Beverages
Although alcohol is likely to hamper your efforts if you’re trying to lose weight on keto, you may still wonder which alcoholic beverages you can drink and remain in ketosis. Keep in mind that these beverages pack calories from fat and alcohol.
Low Carb Beer
Beer is typically high in carbs, as it contains sugars from wheat that aren’t fermented into ethanol. Yet, low carb beer is made by either using less wheat or allowing a longer fermentation process to more completely convert the sugars into alcohol. Some of the lowest carb beers, which clock in at 2-3 grams of net carbs per 12-ounce (355-mL) bottle, are Budweiser Select 55, Michelob Ultra, and Miller 64 (23, 24, 25).
Hard Liquor
Hard liquors like vodka, whiskey, rum, and tequila are naturally carb-free and therefore appropriate for the keto diet. However, you should be careful with mixed drinks, as they’re often loaded with sugar from fruit juices or soda. You should also check the label on flavored liquors for any added sugars. To keep your drinks low carb, try drinking hard liquor straight or use zero-carb mixers like diet soda or seltzer water. Try to avoid tonic water, as it contains added sugar.
Low Carb Hard Seltzer
You can also choose low carb hard seltzers, which are made with flavored seltzer water or sparkling water and added liquor. If you happen to avoid gluten, you’ll want to check the label carefully because many of them are made with malt liquor.
If you want a glass of wine, you're less likely to encounter added sugars if you opt for a dry variety. When it comes to spirits, you're pretty safe from falling off the keto wagon because these options tend to have low to no carbs.